Mirrored Future
by Amazonian21
Summary: Complete SessKag: Kagome finds a mirror that gives possible scenarios from the future. She decides to look a bit closer. Is she ready for what she'll find?
1. Chapter 1

Mirrored Future

by Amazonian

Pairing: Sess/Kag

Chapter 1

The merry band of shard hunters made their way down the dusty road, happy to be arguing and yelling the same way they had for over four years. It was comforting in its familiarity, and though all would rather have the threat of Naraku eliminated, none would trade the time spent with their friends for the world.

Kagome was feeling nostalgic. She breathed in deeply and could feel the air of ages passing through, making her almost lightheaded with the years as she walked. When she first entered the feudal area she'd been young in every way. She hadn't even known what to be afraid of. She soon found out, however, by being introduced to the evil of Naraku. When that happened she made her first step towards growing up.

Though it had bee a constant struggle, slowly the years had granted her a hard earned ability to hold a little of her own. She could raise her bow with assurance and had gained a bit more control over her miko powers. She still felt inadequate a good portion of the time, and still worried she'd never get good enough to help her friends when it mattered most, but at least she was learning.

She was able to graduate high school with decent grades after more struggle than Hercules could have had with all the stables in the world. She forced InuYasha to let her go through the well and each time was almost more trouble than it was worth. She was soon a professional at dodging, whining, bargaining, and 'sit!'ing. She finished high school and was finally able to devote all her time to hunting shards and Naraku before she thought about college. It had been a hard decision to make, but delaying her future to benefit the past was something she knew she'd have to do.

Yes, over the years she'd had her share of horror, danger, heartache, and extreme emotions of all sorts, but she wouldn't change a thing. The hanyou, demon slayer, perverted monk, and kitsune were family as much as her mother, grandfather, and brother were. They were all that kept her sane and cheerful in the face of overwhelming odds.

Well, maybe not 'sane'

Currently Shippou was trying to get his lollipop untangled from InuYasha's hair, and the yells of indignation could be heard for miles. InuYasha took a swing at his head and the kitsune's hand flew up in self defense. The sucker was released with the force of his flailing. All eyes widened as it sailed through the air only to land on InuYasha's head where it had promptly become stuck beyond retrieval.

That didn't stop Shippou from trying, however. He spent a valiant couple of minutes trying to dodge the hanyou's quick arms to get his treat. Finally, however, he gave up with a wail when InuYasha's short temper and even shorter patience ran out. He hadn't pulled many punches when dealing with the young annoyance, but the last thread of his restraint snapped.

He made a feint at Shippou's well protected head, and suddenly changed directions mid-air when the kit fell for it. Without pause, the half-demon made a successful swipe and caught the young fox and was now attempting to knock some remorse into him.

"Waaahh, Kagome!" he wailed, struggling unsuccessfully against the stronger demon's hands.

"I'm sorry, Shippou," she said, hiding a smile at their antics, "but you brought this one on yourself. I told you not to pester him so much."

InuYasha's eyes lit up as he realized that the impossible had finally happened; Kagome had sided with him against her protege.

"Come here, you little bastard!" He yelled gleefully, tightening his hold on the frantically squirming fox. With a wicked smirk he grabbed the kit tighter and started giving him noogies fit to take off hair, chuckling darkly the more the kit whined.

Finally, Kagome decided it was enough. The adolescent fox demon had moved on from fake cries designed to get sympathy and progressed on to real noises of frustration. With a sigh and slight laugh she said,

"Alright, InuYasha, that's enough. Let him go, I think he's learnt his lesson." She sat back and rested on her heels, prepared for the tirade and annoyance that was sure to follow. InuYasha never released anything willingly once he'd gotten his hands on it.

The hanyou looked anything but ready to comply with her orders, and held the kit more firmly, as expected. Kagome just sighed and shook her head. She hadn't had to 'sit' InuYasha for almost a year now, and it seemed a shame to break with tradition. She supposed it was her own fault- if she'd stopped InuYasha earlier he would be walking ahead down the road, muttering and driving the gang behind him faster in his irritation. Instead, she'd all but told him to do whatever he wanted with the fox.

"InuYasha," she warned, looking pointedly at his rosary, "don't make me do it. Maybe you've forgotten the taste of dirt, but do you really want to be reminded?"

InuYasha glared at her and sized her up, trying to decide if she'd go through with it. It had been so long that he was starting to forget her earlier enthusiasm when it came to sits. Overconfidence was a big flaw of his.

"Keh!" he said, pausing what he was doing for just a minute, "You wouldn't dare, wench!"

Keeping one eye on Kagome and the other on Shippou, he casually bopped the kitsune on the head, waiting her reaction.

Kagome almost laughed but caught herself in time. Sometimes it was like traveling with a couple of children! The years may have matured and strengthened Kagome, but they didn't seem to affect her demon friend as strongly. When she didn't immediately sit him, InuYasha resumed his beatings smugly, unaware that Kagome's face had gone from exasperated to determined.

"That's it!" she yelled, causing the hanyou's ears to flatten against his head protectively, "InuYasha, SIT!"

With a yell and a strangled curse, InuYasha released Shippou as he face planted into the ground, leaving a sizeable hole. The large crater that held his face proved that Kagome's SIT's lost no power over time. If anything, her negligence seemed to spur the rosary to greater heights, as if trying to prove its continued worth.

"Damn it!" InuYasha yelled from the ground, struggling against the forgotten strength of the spell, "Why'd you go and do that, bitch!"

"I warned you, you jerk, but you didn't listen!" Kagome yelled, exasperation replacing her earlier amusement. "You'd better start taking me seriously or you'll never be safe in trees again! I'll sit you from the highest branches if you keep this up!"

InuYasha muttered and cursed angrily as Kagome reached over and pulled the lollipop free of its hair prison. She handed it over to a gloating Shippou and watched as he eyed it closely. The kitsune examined it from all angles with the eye of a true connoisseur. He decided the sucker was still worth all the trouble he'd gone through and plucked a few silver hairs from its sticky surface, then popped the sweet into his mouth. He smiled hugely at Kagome, grinning around his sweet success.

Kagome grimaced at his gross attitude.

"I give up!" she muttered, and walked on ahead, content to leave the fox to his own devices. She thought about warning him to be out of reach when the spell wore off but decided against it. If he wasn't smart enough to stay out of the way of one highly annoyed half-demon, she would get to watch Darwinism in action.

She fell back along the road to the side of Sango. Closer examination of the situation revealed that she'd left one testy situation for another. She looked to Sango who was busy threatening a determined-looking Miroku.

At some point Sango and Miroku had come to an understanding about their feelings for each other. Unfortunately, Naraku was still alive and Miroku's hand was still cursed. Even more unfortunately, their understanding hadn't included a healthy 'no groping' clause. Miroku still reached for his goals and Sango still rewarded his efforts with pain.

She'd gotten more inventive with her threats of as the years passed. Unfortunately for him, Miroku had become immune to her threats and glares over time and seemed to find unhealthy encouragement in her resistance.

Deciding to distract her friends from the headache their actions and the subsequent yelling were sure to cause, Kagome asked the question that had been on her mind for a minute.

"How much longer do you think it will take us to get to the caves?" she asked, pulling on Sango's sleeves casually. It worked to distract her, and her friend turned to answer.

"The villagers said the cave and the demon they suspect have a shard were about a day's walk away. We should reach them soon enough. Probably not more than a couple more hours," Sango replied, looking at the position of the sun in the sky. "It's getting pretty late. We should be there before it's too dark."

Sango turned to Miroku, forgiving his wandering hands for the moment, and continued, "If luck is with us, we should be able to defeat this demon before too long. It's a lower youkai, and even with its shards shouldn't be too much for us."

Miroku nodded sagely and added, "It is most fortunate I was able to exorcize that evil demon from the lord's home last night." He ignored the girls' twin snorts of amusement and disbelief and continued, "We needed that night's rest and relaxation. It will make this day's work that much easier."

When Sango and Kagome nodded in agreement he added, "We must not get too overconfident, however. It's always best to overestimate your opponents and feel your way into battle slowly."

A resounding SMACK split the air as it became obvious that Miroku's hand had been busy 'feeling' something other than battle. Sango walked away in a huff, leaving Miroku rubbing his battered cheek with a happy look on his face. His eyes never left Sango's rear as she walked to commiserate with an oblivious Kirara. The fire demon was so used to the antics of the monk that she barely rose and eye to them any more. Kagome was left giggling at their well-rehearsed antics. Some things never changed.

They walked on in relative peace for the rest of the afternoon on into the evening. InuYasha kept the pace steady and grueling, only giving in to their demands for rest breaks when a mutiny was threatened. Sango walked behind InuYasha keeping an eye out for any signs of trouble and overly aggressive monks. Kagome followed her, absentmindedly stroking Kirara or chatting with Shippou, and Miroku brought up the rear, content to watch the sway of Sango's hips. Kagome idly wondered why Sango still let the monk follow her, when it was obvious to everyone present where his eyes rested. Maybe she wasn't as prudish as she pretended.

An hour or so before nightfall saw them at the mouth of a deep and gloomy cave. The scattering of cattle carcasses littering the entry showed they had the right spot.

"It will charge us as soon as we're sensed," Sango had warned the group, and InuYasha pulled his Tessaiga and transformed it to be ready.

"Keh, the bastard won't even know what hit it," he boasted, ready for a fight. He motioned for everyone to follow behind him and approached the cave with confidence oozing out of his pores.

Kagome followed a little reluctantly. Few demons seemed to live in caves like this- the majority of the ones they met wandered the countryside and fought out in the open. It made her nervous to see InuYasha confined by the cave walls, but if he wasn't going to mind she would try not to. She drew her bow and notched an arrow to be ready for purification if needed.

Sango and Miroku were similarly prepared. Sango's boomerang was at hand, ready to be launched with deadly precision. Miroku held his staff at the ready and fingered the rosary surrounding his wind tunnel absently. In these confines he knew it would be a mistake to use it unless absolutely necessary.

Shippou looked anxious for some action himself. The years had matured him to appear almost nine years old. He was still inexperienced and lacked the ability to be a great asset in battle, but his enthusiasm and determination to try and to learn was contagious. Time had granted him some skills just as it had Kagome. It would be almost impossible to survive the battles they'd seen without some improvement, after all.

InuYasha suddenly tensed. "Watch out, you guys, Ugly's coming our way!"

Sure enough, moments later a dragon demon burst forward from the depths of the darkness. What once was a proud and intelligent beast was reduced to a slavering, mindless mass of brute force, thanks to the jewel shard Kagome sensed imbedded somewhere in its body. The evil of the jewel had warped the poor, power hungry beast until nothing worth saving remained.

Kagome concentrated her powers and saw where it hid its piece of the Shikon no Tama.

"InuYasha! The villagers were right, I sense a shard! It's in the scales on the dragon's back!" She got into a ready stance, prepared to let an arrow fly while InuYasha looked where she indicated.

"I see it," he growled, and rushed the ferociously growling demon. His sword raised high above his head, InuYasha prepared to deliver a quick, devastating blow. However, when he unleashed his fury upon he dragon's neck, the skin beneath the sword remained undamaged. Tessaiga bounced back off the impenetrable scales, hurling backwards with the force of the blow.

InuYasha overcompensated for the unexpected recoil and was thrown backwards into the cave walls. The dragon, sensing the jewels around Kagome's neck, left him to his own devices as it came charging after her, ignoring the furious hanyou at its side.

"Great, just great," Kagome muttered. It never failed. These shards were a liability, in more ways than one. No wonder she felt so clumsy all the time- she practically had a sign around her neck that said, 'Eat me!' She pulled back her arrow and charged the head with purifying power. She raised her elbow to her eye line, took aim, and released a powerful bolt with excellent accuracy, straight towards the heart of the beast.

It struck the dragon with enough force to knock it back slightly off course, but did nothing to pierce its fierce hide. The dragon careened into an unprepared Kagome tail first instead of with teeth and jaws, knocking her clear across the room. It was stunned a little as it crashed into the cave wall as InuYasha had before it.

"Kagome!" she heard InuYasha yell, as he struggled back to his feet. He was prepared to run to her side to protect her, but it was all he could do to plant himself in the dragon's path and fend him off her body. He couldn't see where she'd fallen, but he could prevent the dragon from getting near her again.

Kagome knew she'd landed badly even before the pain hit. She moaned as her back protested movement and her leg let her know there'd be hell to pay tomorrow. Assuming she'd ever move again. Her body was in enough pain to make her doubt it. She tried getting up to go back to battle but realized she wasn't going anywhere soon. The whole right side of her body ached, and she was sure to have a few bruises if lucky. She suspected a couple of ribs might be broken as well. Breathing was painful and walking was impossible, so she lay back and assessed her surroundings.

She appeared to be behind a large outcropping of rock. She couldn't see what was happening to her friends but could hear Sango and Miroku yelling to each other as they tried to wound the dragon, and the yells and curses of InuYasha as he fought to keep the dragon from pursuing her as she lay helpless.

She rested on piles and piles of junk. She knew dragons loved to horde and collect all sorts of oddities, but no one would call the things surrounding her 'treasure'. It was a motley pile of junk, with a few valuable items thrown in almost as an afterthought. She sighed and looked at her reflection in an old, gilded mirror as she heard InuYasha's injured shout.

"I need to see what's going on with them," she said in exasperation. "I need to see if they're going to be all right!"

She didn't expect the mirror to have any opinion on the matter. She yelped and scrambled away from it as far as she could when it started glowing around the edges. She peered into its reflection and what she saw there made her eyes go wide.

She saw InuYasha, fighting with a fierce determination, slashing and hacking away unsuccessfully while Sango and Miroku tried to help him as best they could in the cramped quarters. Finally, after what seemed like seconds to Kagome but was minutes to the mirror's inhabitants, the dragon caught InuYasha with a lucky blow when he jumped too high and glanced off the ceiling. While momentarily stunned, the dragon lunged forward, snapping its great jaws against InuYasha's shoulder and tearing away a great portion of his arm as he howled in agony.

Kagome screamed and struggled to go to InuYasha before she realized that the reflection in the mirror had rapidly changed once more. She simultaneously realized that the noises from behind her didn't match up with the actions in the mirror. Whatever was going on out there wasn't exactly as the mirror portrayed.

Slightly sickened from what she'd just witnessed, Kagome watched as another image played across the glass' surface. In it, InuYasha and the gang were fighting as fiercely as she knew them to be in real life. InuYasha slashed and fought, searching for any weakness in the dragon's hide. Kagome knew he hesitated to use any of his sword's special attacks when there was no room for allies to avoid them in the close quarters of the cave. She watched in sick fascination as Sango darted in behind the dragon, weapon held high to deliver a stunning blow, only to get swatted harshly with the dragon's forgotten tail. Sango, however, wasn't as lucky as Kagome. Instead of getting thrown, her neck took the brunt of the attack. With a terrifying crack, Sango fell lifeless to the floor, neck broken and body limp. Miroku rushed to her side, yelling as he cradled her still body.

Kagome shrieked in terror. She could hear her friends behind her and knew that what she'd seen hadn't happened yet, but she was terrified it would. How could she lay back as her friends fought against a demon that was way harder to kill than it should have been?

Her attention was turned once more to the mirror when another scenario appeared. Instead of focusing on her friends, this one began on her, watching the mirror in front of her, just as she was in real life. She watched as her counterpart haltingly grabbed her bow, struggled with pain filled valor to the side of the rock, notched her bow, and fired one more charged arrow. She saw the arrow her copy had fired hit the dragon straight in its unprotected eye, purifying it just as its tail headed towards Sango. The dragon disappeared with a roar and a flash, leaving behind ashes and a softly glowing jewel shard.

Kagome knew what she needed to do. It would be painful and was not something she was looking forward to doing, with her ribs promising severe retribution if she attempted it. However, she took a deep breath, loosed an arrow from her quiver, and began the great struggle towards the rock's edge. Some impulse made her stash the now still mirror in her pocket. She wanted to keep it near her.

As promised, her ribs burned and breathing was difficult. Her back hurt, but that pain was manageable. Her leg wouldn't support her weight but she was relatively sure it wasn't broken. Small favors.

She pulled herself as quickly as she could, grunting with the pain and effort, on her belly along the rough ground. It was a long way to the rock and she almost stopped several times. She persisted, however, and was relieved to reach the edge and be able to peer around.

She saw her friends fighting and darting around the dragon as well as they could, relentless in their pursuit of their prey. She knew they wouldn't give up until something died, and she determined to help them avoid the terrible futures she saw in the mirror's glass. She gathered her remaining energies, raised her bow, took aim, held her painful breath to stop her body's shudders, and let the bolt loose.

It looked just as it had in the mirror, a true prediction. Her arrow left the bow and sailed through the air, the picture of pink purity. The course held true and struck the unlucky dragon straight in the eye. It sunk into the socket with no resistance and within seconds the dragon was reduced to ashes.

"Kagome!" InuYasha yelled, as he saw her slump to the ground exhausted. He ran to her side and bent over to gently examine her battered body.

She smiled up at him painfully and tried to reassure him.

"I'm fine," she said, gasping at the pain in her sides. She groaned, knowing that bruised ribs took humans weeks to recover from. "I'm a little beat up, but I'm all right."

Miroku and Sango rushed to her side and began a gentle search of her body. It was a testament to his concern that the monk's hands never strayed anywhere they shouldn't.

"I think you'll be fine in time," he said with conviction. "I don't see anything broken. You'll be uncomfortable for a while, but Kaede should be able to relieve some of your discomfort."

"Here's the shard," Sango said, slipping the recovered fracture into Kagome's hand. She concentrated for a moment and sighed with relief with the little piece glowed pink in purification. She slid the piece to rest with the others around her neck.

"Let's get her back to the hut now," Sango continued, reaching to help her stand. InuYasha pushed her away roughly instead and scooped Kagome up into his arms himself, unprepared to let anyone else tend to her. He hated seeing her hurt, especially when he'd been the one to fail to protect her. This never would have happened if he hadn't let the dragon get past him. Kagome could have died, and it was all his fault.

He gathered her quickly to his chest and held her as close as her injuries would allow. He suddenly seemed uncomfortable with his apparent tenderness and concern when the others looked at him in surprise.

"Oi, wench, there you go again, getting injured! Now you can't walk and you'll hold us all up!" he said with all the severity and gruffness he could muster. It looked like he was glaring at her, but his attempt seemed half-hearted at best to Kagome.

"What are you talking about?" screeched Shippou, coming to the defense of his beloved Kagome. "This is your fault! You practically threw the dragon right at her!"

Hearing Shippou's words echo his own thoughts made InuYasha's guilt spike to new levels. He held Kagome tighter as he growled at Shippou, sending reverberations through her body.

"Shut it, runt! You don't know anything about it! Where were you hiding while the rest of us did all the dirty work?" he said, furious with the conversation.

"Please," Kagome interrupted, her side too sore to let her listen o her friends fight, "please let's go. I just want to head back now."

Both Shippou and InuYasha had the sense to look guilty at her words and nodded sheepishly.

"Keh," InuYasha said again, avoiding Kagome's eyes. "We'll go on ahead to the village. You guys catch up. It'll be a lot faster if I don't have to wait up for you bozos."

Miroku and Sango nodded in agreement. Shippou made to protest, but gave up when he saw the sense in it. Kagome needed to be tended to as soon as possible.

With a great leap, Inuyasha took to the air. He set himself a grueling pace and took off into the evening, heading straight for the old miko who would be able to help his friend.

As he leapt, he vowed to himself, 'This will never happen again. I will not let Kagome get hurt if I can ever prevent it.'

He'd vowed it before, and he'd probably vow it again, but in that moment it was the foremost thing on his mind.

A week went by while Kagome healed. Her leg and back recovered most quickly, being used to her rough treatment. Her ribs, however, took a bit more convincing. Kaede bound them tightly with wide cloth. The extra support helped her a bit while she was walking and eased her breathing, but laying down was still a chore. Sleep didn't come as easily as it once had.

So it was that Kagome was awake long after the others had gone to sleep. Her side was aching and teamed up with her head to orchestrate an impressive display of pain. The hut felt stuffy with the breathing of monk, huntress, demon, and miko. It all combined to make Kagome feel stifled and irritable.

She needed to take a walk. She sighed and got up, fingering the mirror she still carried in her pocket.

She hadn't had the chance to experiment with the mirror since that day in the cave. It was an exciting puzzle to her. From what she could discern, the mirror showed various future outcomes. She wasn't sure how it worked or what determined which scenario would occur, but she was interested in experimenting more to find out.

She wanted some privacy for her trial runs. She wasn't sure why, but she hadn't told any of the others about the mirror. She was compelled to keep it a secret, at least until she knew more of its secrets.

Sneaking quietly past the sleeping humans she slipped out to the woods. InuYasha was no where to be found. This time of night he was often hunting for the next morning's breakfast or meditating alone in the forest. Either way, Kagome figured she could get a little personal time before he felt compelled to track her down.

She wandered over to the well and sat at the edge. There were a million and one things she wanted to ask the mirror to show her. She wanted to know about the fight with Naraku. She wanted to know about the future of her friends. She wanted to find the remaining lost jewel shards.

She wanted to know about her future with InuYasha.

It was the last scenario that occupied her mind most, though she wished the shards took priority. She knew that four years was a long time to hold on to a youthful crush, especially when there were so many things in the way of a working relationship. She was human, he was hanyou. She was from the future, he was stuck in the past. She was the reincarnation of a walking corpse that he still wasn't over.

Details, details.

Kagome wasn't under any illusions. She knew that after all this time it was unlikely that anything more would develop in her relationship with InuYasha. He was possessive and protective, but so was Shippou. He felt strongly for her as a friend, but she was seriously doubting he'd ever be capable of more than that. And, after all they'd been through, she wasn't sure she wanted more from him, if he'd been unable to appreciate all she did for him, and all they were to each other. She didn't want him coming to her only after Kikyo was dead, hoping to use her as a poor substitution.

She just had to be sure.

Gathering her resolve and hoping not to see a repeat of the horrible images that had assaulted her before, she took out the mirror and looked at it.

"I need to see the future," she told it. "I need to see the future with...," and trailed off as she tensed and felt the presence of a very strong youkai behind her.

"Sesshoumaru," she gasped, as the tall, cold lord came into view behind her, regarding her with cruel disdain.

She was distracted from that sight, however, as the mirror in her hand began to glow.

AN: Ooh, a cliffhanger. How annoying.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I do not know if a disclaimer is necessary. If so, allow me to say that I own nothing affiliated with any InuYasha characters. I don't want to put a disclaimer in every chapter but will if I must. Does anyone know if it's required?

Mirrored Future

by Amazonian21

Rated M

Chapter 2

Recap from last episode:

_"I need to see the future," she told it. "I need to see the future with...," and trailed off as she tensed and felt the presence of a very strong youkai behind her._

_"Sesshoumaru," she gasped, as the tall, cold lord came into view behind her, regarding her with cruel disdain._

_She was distracted from that sight, however, as the mirror in her hand began to glow._

Kagome was not a stupid girl. The mirror in front of her was calling for her attention, but she was in no immediate position to humor it. The last thing she wanted to do was turn her back on the cold blooded killer who'd been willing to end her life as a side note whenever she stood in the way of something he wanted. She did not survive four years of high stress battle situations by being frivolous with her life.

Well, she supposed it could be argued that she often had been careless, but always had friends to bail her out of the consequences of her frivolity. But right now, that was neither here nor there.

All that ran through her mind was that instant stress response; chemical signals trying to get her to either fight for her safety or fly from immediate danger. Neither, she knew, would ensure her continued existence. Sesshoumaru would swat away any attacks she could make and catch her before she even knew she was running.

It was best to keep very, very still and hope he wanted a live hostage rather than a dead message.

The mirror was still glowing, however. She looked at the TaiYoukai in front of her and noticed that his eyes were no longer on her. He had his attention fixed on the glowing mirror behind her.

She slowly turned her head and allowed herself to look at it as well. She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting, but the image in the mirror caused her to momentarily forget the white menace behind her and focus entirely on its contents.

_It was the last battle. Smoke and poisonous haze abounded. In the center of the mirror, Naraku was surrounded by the shard hunting group, tentacles flying, miasma pooling in waves. There was no sound to go with the images and Kagome had a hard time following the movements of everyone involved from her bird's eye view, but she could make out the forms of an exhausted Sango fighting back to back with a wounded but determined Miroku. Kirara darted around them, viciously tearing at any demon that dared threaten her human friends._

_The horde of demons Naraku summoned to wear the team down was now almost depleted, but not without fulfilling their intended purpose. The monk and demon slayer were weary and would not be in top form when the cloud of youkai thinned enough to make an attack on Naraku possible._

_She looked towards the middle when flashes of red caught her eye. She saw InuYasha waving his Tessaiga left and right with a fierce determination. He was furious and deadly, his demon side barely restrained by the powers of the sword. He launched attack after attack on Naraku, growling in rage as the evil hanyou's body regenerated itself instantly after each attempt. It was obvious that InuYasha held nothing back, using tooth, nail, and sword to defeat his arch enemy. InuYasha would not be able to continue his efforts indefinitely, but stoically would not let his fatigue get the best of him._

_Kagome's counterpart was pushed out of the way along the sidelines. All of her contributions to the effort required her to use her miko powers and archery skills and to avoid getting hurt or in the way of the more physical fighters. She launched arrow after arrow into the thinning swarm of demons, cutting their numbers down significantly. She even took aim at Naraku himself when it wouldn't get in the way of InuYasha's efforts. Shippou stood by her side and helped kill any demons that got too close with his fox fire._

_She wondered where Naraku's minions were and looked to see Kagura off to one side, deep in a heated battle with Kouga and a few from his wolf tribe. The wind witch seemed the worse for wear, obviously sustaining a lot of injury from Kouga's fast and deadly accurate attacks. Kouga and his wolves were not without damage; all bore lacerations from Kagura's wind attacks, but it was apparent that they would soon be victorious. Kanna already lay dead at their feet, her broken mirror still clutched tightly in her hands._

_There was no sign of Kikyou and no sign of Sesshoumaru._

_The battle raged for what could have been hours. Naraku was slowing and showed signs of wear. His tentacles were no longer regenerating at the same rapid pace and his injuries healed more slowly. He seemed to have sustained one or two injuries that did not heal at all. Unfortunately, the shard hunters were in a similar condition._

_They were now all able to focus their energies on the evil hanyou in front of them, the demon horde long destroyed, but they were moving more slowly and their attacks had less accuracy. It did not look especially good for them since it was apparent they would wear out more rapidly than Naraku would._

_At this point in the battle, Kagome had moved in closer to the action. She let her arrows fly in the pauses between the others' attacks as they regrouped. So far Naraku had been able to deflect them with large blasts of youkai energy, but their heads were stopping closer and closer to his body. If they could hang on for a while longer one of her arrows might hit its mark. Kagome just wasn't guaranteed to have any power reserves left to complete the job when that happened._

_Just when it appeared that no advantage would be gained by either side, and with all fighters locked in a stalemate that left them weary and hopeless, a new party walked calmly into the clearing._

_Sesshoumaru walked forward, sword drawn and battle ready, and coolly faced a surprised group of fighters. It was unclear what words he spoke, but it was obvious there was a small argument between brothers before InuYasha nodded in temporary agreement. With nothing further said, both brothers launched a simultaneous attack, working together once again, however reluctantly._

_Sesshoumaru's freshness and naturally superior ability gave him more power and effect than InuYasha in the renewed battle, but the young hanyou held up his end of the efforts. Blades flashed and blows landed. Sesshoumaru whirled and struck with deadly precision while InuYasha's wild and passionate fighting did damage of its own._

_Inch by inch the brothers wore the evil being down, taking a great burden off the worn humans. InuYasha's renewed special attacks combined with the blood lust and power of Sesshoumaru's own sword sealed Naraku's fate. When one crucial blow from Tessaiga refused to heal, the crew knew success was near at hand._

_Sesshoumaru distracted a flailing Naraku while InuYasha leapt towards Kagome. He brought her closer to the fray and yelled to her. Nodding her head with a fierce look in her eyes, she prepared to launch a massive purification effort at the evil and weakened being before her. She loosed the arrow from her quiver with a practiced motion, said a quick prayer over it, and concentrated all her powers into its head. Then, slowly and smoothly, Kagome brought the fateful arrow up to her eye._

_The tip glowed faintly, and for a moment it looked like she might not be strong enough to complete her task. However, Naraku's mocking expression and unheard taunts seemed to give her a renewed sense of determination. It helped to bring her powers up to a much greater level, spurred by her emotion. The arrow was released and flew strait and true. Naraku was struck straight through the heart with a bolt of the strongest purity. His shriek of agony caused those nearest him to cover their ears in self defense._

_The allies looked on as Kagome's arrow purified the evil hanyou of all its demonic powers, producing a bolt of blinding light that surrounded their enemy. Flesh stripped form bones in a furnace blast of power and horrible stench. Naraku flailed his arms as the last of his bastardized demonic presence flew away, scattering to the winds, leaving nothing more than a burned, scarred human body behind. Naraku's true human form, as it appeared before he made his terrible deal with demons, lay battered and festering on the field before them._

_InuYasha raised his sword to strike down their humbled enemy. He stood proudly over the fallen foe, prepared to deliver the death blow, when he saw that Naraku's attention was not on his upcoming death. It was focused upon Kagome with sick delight._

_InuYasha whipped around and saw what held the fallen man's attention at such a crucial moment. As he saw what held such fascination, all he could do was yell and lunge towards her in horror. But it was too late. A purifying arrow, launched from Kikyou's bow, struck her firmly and fatally in the back. Within seconds Kagome hit the ground, twitching as she died._

_InuYasha howled and reached her side, pulling her body to him in agony. Sango launched her weapon at the fallen miko, effectively slaughtering her without a moment's hesitation. Once she was sure the surprise foe was unable to rise again to complete more mischief, she too ran to stand by the heartbroken group including monk and kitsune that surrounded Kagome._

_Sesshoumaru watched the scene before him dispassionately, sneering at their ability to leave a job undone. He idly walked towards the pathetic being in front of him and lobbed off his head with hardly a thought. Naraku's body shuddered and fell to pieces, its ability to hold itself together obliterated. Sesshoumaru casually kicked the ashes apart and watched as they blew away._

_He picked up the half of the jewel he found in the remains, disinterestedly examining it from several different angles. With no more thought spared to the jewel that enslaved all others before him, he tossed it towards the mourning friends surrounding the fallen miko._

_InuYasha saw the action from his position on the ground and started yelling. Words could not be heard, but the gestures were clear. The hanyou was motioning towards Sesshoumaru's sheathed Tensaiga emphatically, the despair and desperate hope clear on his face. He made demanding hand signals, beseeching Sesshoumaru to use his powers to return Kagome to life._

_The monk, having sat sadly to one side, seemed to contribute his calmer, though no less heartfelt, opinion on the matter. He spoke for a length of time, motioning towards Kagome, her bow and arrows, the purified shards, and the still tainted reclaimed half. His point must have been well made because Sesshoumaru hesitated momentarily and then drew his sword. It responded to his touch and he waved it casually over Kagome's body._

_When she shuddered and returned to the land of the living, Sesshoumaru turned and walked back into the forest without a backwards glance, leaving the relieved group to dispose of the Shikon no Tama._

The scene ended and Kagome was able to turn her eyes away back to the demon behind her. He also turned to face her, his eyes clearing after the vision and sharpening on her face.

His features barely changed as he demanded, "How did you activate the mirror?"

Before she could formulate a reply, since she honestly had no real idea, the mirror glowed once more. Kagome had been expecting something along these lines, having assumed the mirror regularly showed alternate possibilities, but Sesshoumaru hadn't. He growled a little as she turned to face the mirror once again but forgot his immediate annoyance as he saw the new scene begin in front of his eyes.

_It was the same scene from before. The group fought valiantly, wearing both themselves and Naraku down to their limits. Sesshoumaru made his appearance as he had before and once again joined the fray to bring a much needed advantage._

_However, where once Kikyou had risen into sight and shot Kagome with an arrow, in this version of the future she never got the chance. She raised her bow, took aim at Kagome, and was prepared to loose the bolt when a flash of white split the scene._

_Sesshoumaru, inexplicably and completely out of the blue, pulled Kagome out of the way to safety. He tackled her body, pulling her close into his protective embrace as he darted out of the line of fire. With movements blurring in their intensity, he crossed the field with dizzying speed. Kikyou was slashed and beheaded before her attempted actions fully registered with the others present._

_The second it hit the stunned party, InuYasha and the others all rushed forward with a cry. When it was apparent that Kagome was in no further danger from arrows, Sango strode over to make sure that Kikyou was dead, satisfied with what she saw. Miroku stayed behind to finish off the remains of the human Naraku as InuYasha reached for Kagome. He meant to pull her from the tight grip of the demon lord, disliking the sight of her resting against his body. He was met with the growls of a protective TaiYoukai. It was apparent by the looks on the faces of all present that this response from the lord was most unexpected._

_As if aware of the absurdity of his actions, the demon lord thrust the surprised girl into the arms of his bristling brother, causing them to both stumble with the unexpected shift. As the two worked to sort themselves out, InuYasha checking for injury and Kagome looking for the other half of the shard, Sesshoumaru strode off alone into the forest without once looking back. He left them to purify and destroy the Shikon no Tama and deal with the emotional repercussions of Kikyou's actions and Naraku's defeat._

Once again Kagome looked away from the mirror with a dazed look. It was a lot to absorb and created more questions than she believed could be answered. She was thoroughly confused. This was the first time she'd ever seen herself die in such a graphic, real manner. It was almost as bad as watching Sango die had been in the dragon's cave.

The mirror's actions confused her. The previous visions she'd been shown all had an air of possibility. Should Kagome fall in battle in Sesshoumaru's presence, she found it very likely that he would leave her dead unless there was reason not to. It was obvious he'd only saved her so she could complete her work with the Shikon no Tama. He'd then walked away without another word, presumably leaving her life forever. That made sense.

There was no possible future that would ever feature a protective Sesshoumaru. It was her experience that if Sesshoumaru wasn't the one actively seeking her death, he was content to allow it to occur.

She turned to risk a look at the distant, terrifying TaiYoukai and saw his scowl. If his expressions, what little showed, were anything to go by his thoughts were traveling along the same path as her own. Disbelief and disgust graced his stoic features, mainly serving to pinch the corners of his tightly controlled expression. He must also have a hard time imagining himself as her protector.

"Miko," he growled, approaching her with a menacing air, "what have you done to bewitch my mother's mirror?" He spoke lowly and deliberately, intimidating with his ruthless control. Kagome felt that nothing he did was without purpose, and his reptilian attitudes caused her to sweat. She would need to proceed cautiously from here out.

"I have done nothing to the mirror, Sesshoumaru-sama," she began. She used the honorific in order to show her respect and fear for the being in front of her. She would not risk his anger. If she were lucky, he would tell her what he wanted from her and leave without causing any blood shed or violence.

"It shows lies," he said, with complete simplicity and directness. His inflection barely changed. His amber eyes were flat and distant, holding nothing that could resemble human warmth or feeling. Kagome shivered. He was an alien. He was a cold statue brought to life, chilly enough to freeze the air around him. He radiated nothing but rigidity, and left a coppery taste in her mouth.

"I know nothing of the mirror or its powers, my lord," she promised, wondering what she could say to make him understand her plight. She didn't want her lack of information to anger the unpredictable and violent TaiYoukai.

"It was stolen from me," the demon prompted, coldly. She didn't know if he was accusing her or asking her what she knew about the situations surrounding it. "I sensed its powers nearby and came to retrieve it. Imagine my surprise to see it in your possession." His voice was flat and monotone, with barely a lilt at the end of the sentence to show he was waiting for a response.

"Yes," she replied, tugging on her skirt nervously. She really wished InuYasha would pick this moment to find her. He always had shown up at opportune times like this in the past. She didn't want the brothers to fight as they always did since it would inevitably lead to more cuts and bruises for her to treat, but she also didn't want to be the sole recipient of Sesshoumaru's intense stares.

"I found it in the cave of a dragon demon that was in possession of one of the jewel shards," she continued. "It showed me possible outcomes for the battle we waged in the cave. I wasn't sure what its powers were. Once the demon was defeated, I slipped the mirror in my pocket to examine later." She peered at the lord from under her bangs, head lowered and shoulders slumped to make herself look smaller. She watched his face for signs of anger but couldn't detect any. He gave no clues, as usual.

"I did not know this was your mirror," she said earnestly, hoping to make things right without any trouble. "I will return it immediately," she promised, holding out the glass in good faith.

The demon made a move to intercept the mirror, barely glancing at her. His attention was drawn to its surface, however, as the troublesome thing proved that it wasn't donemaking mischieffor the evening.

Both demon and miko halted in their motions, each with a hand on one side of the mirror, as the third and most controversial image from the mirror presented itself for their joined viewing pleasure.

* * *

A/N: What, another cliff hanger? Someone must teach this author some manners. How disgusting and insensitive.

Thanks to Mab, PurpleRebecca, (for being old favorites of mine)and all other opening reviewers. First chapters are important to an author's courage to continue.


	3. Chapter 3

Mirrored Future

by Amazonian 21

Rated M

Recap: 

_Both demon and miko halted in their motions, each with a hand on one side of the mirror, as the third and most controversial image from the mirror presented itself for their joined viewing pleasure..._

Chapter 3

Kagome gaped at what she saw before her. She'd expected another outcome of the battle, one featuring her grisly death at the hands of an annoyed Sesshoumaru. If his expression after viewing the other alternate future was any indication, he would be only too happy to prove he didn't consort with disgusting humans.

Instead, what met her eyes was of a completely different nature.

_The battle played out as it had in every other situation with a couple of notable exceptions._

_Sesshoumaru was present on the field much earlier than he had been, and it seemed as if all the warriors were fresher and more energetic. His presence had probably shortened the fighting time considerably. The two brothers wore out Naraku much more quickly, with fewer injuries, when they agreed upon a temporary truce earlier than they had before. InuYasha still gave the crucial blow and Kagome still purified the evil hanyou of all his demon flesh, leaving an easily defeated human body behind. InuYasha disposed of it without pause. Naraku went to his end yelling and vowing vengeance instead of anticipating one final moment of vengeance._

_Kikyou was nowhere to be seen. This time around she was not present to make her underhanded attempt on Kagome's life. It was curious and would definitely bear thinking about at a future date, but as moments passed it became the least of the oddities in the scene._

_Sesshoumaru's actions won the award for most surprising decisions made by a minor character with a bullet._

_After the evil had been defeated, Sesshoumaru seemed to pause for a short moment. Hesitation was written on his battle worn and blood covered face. He stood tall and proud, barely breathing heavily after all his exertion. He appeared as if slaughtering countless lower youkai and one near-immortal evil hanyou were part of his morning work out. Sweat dripped from his brow and his usually impeccable clothes were wrinkled and torn in spots several spots. They too sported large quantities of blood, none of it his own._

_He'd come out of this important battle completely unscathed. There was nothing before him to cause him such pause and no physical emergencies requiring his immediate attentions, and yet there he was, struggling with a great decision._

_Slowly and deliberately he began to move across the field to where Kagome stood. She was jumping up and down, even in her fatigue, hugging her friends wildly. She too showed signs of wear after her battles. She had several minor cuts and bruises, but nothing to worry about. InuYasha was stooped over to retrieve the unpurified half of the jewel on the other side of the field and could only watch in confusion and suspicion as his brother stopped in front of her._

_Sesshoumaru's unexpected presence caused the monk, kitsune, and slayer to pause in their celebrations to look at him in fearful questioning. They were glad for his help and cooperation, but unsure about his continued presence on the field. All of them had expected him to depart as suddenly as he had come, now that his enemy was defeated._

_They gaped like idiots, completely surprised out of their wits, when the usually stoic demon lord looked only at Kagome. Without a word he quickly gathered the young miko into his arms. He pulled her in, close to his chest, and looked down at her pleasantly surprised expression. The bystanders' shock only grew as Sesshoumaru slowly raised his hand to her soft cheek, caressing it gently._

_The after affects of the great battle surrounded everyone. The littering of demon corpses served to prove what all knew; it was a miracle they'd all survived unscathed. Sesshoumaru's control seemed to slip as it appeared the instinct to celebrate survival would overpower him._

_He suddenly swooped in to place a passionate and relieved kiss upon Kagome' upturned mouth, oblivious to the upset his actions were causing._

_Kagome appeared perfectly content with the heartfelt and searing kiss, participating and reciprocating enthusiastically. Her hands came up to grasp around his head, her fingers locked into his cascading hair. All dirt, blood, and sweat were ignored in that desperate, life affirming kiss._

_The scene ended with Kagome resting against Sesshoumaru, hiding her face against his chest in embarrassment once their lips parted and she remembered where they were. Sango and Miroku, having recovered their senses remarkably quickly, were keeping an irate InuYasha at bay while the demon lord smirked at the effect he'd had on all present._

When Kagome blinked and looked away from the mirror, hands shaking with shock and other conflicting emotions, she could see that the demon at her side did not share his counterpart's sentiment. He was scowling fiercely and looked as if the slightest thing would cause him to vent his frustrations in a brutal manner.

He turned to the young miko and growled lowly, snatching the mirror completely from her hand. The action and growl, more vibration than sound, caused the hairs on her arms and neck to rise in warning. She took a slow step backwards to distance herself from this menacing presence. She desperately wanted to be anywhere but here. After seeing him get defeated three times, even Naraku felt like a preferable companion.

Sesshoumaru pulled himself up to his full, imposing height and looked at her with the weight of all his years of life in his eyes. He pinned her with a glance so visceral he might as well have her in chains. She couldn't move if she wanted to and the feeling was terrifying.

"What is the meaning of this trickery?" he growled, eyes flashing red and violence soaking his every word. He was furious with the presumptuousness of the girl and wanted immediate answers. "How have you tainted and controlled an heirloom of the Taisho family?"

Kagome was finding it very difficult to speak but knew that this was one time when her naturally talkative nature could save her life.

"I am not controlling it," she insisted, desperately hoping he would choose to believe him. "It just shows me different possible outcomes when I ask it a question. I've done nothing to influence it, honest!" She was shaking slightly with the adrenalin coursing through her veins. Standing so still was wreaking havoc on her system. She didn't understand it; she'd faced down countless demons, including this one, with more threat of bodily injury apparent. What made this situation so hard?

'It could be the fact that he was kissing you in the future and that you both liked it,' a helpful little voice supplied in her mind. She ruthlessly told it to mind its own business if it wanted her to make it out of this confrontation alive. It obeyed her wishes for the present.

"This mirror works for no one," Sesshoumaru insisted, glaring at the offending item he now had sole possession of. "It has been inactive to all requests for information for hundreds of years." He narrowed his eyes and fixed them back on her.

"You will tell me what spell you used to reawaken this artifact," he stated, making it clear he was not making requests.

"I did nothing to it!" Kagome yelled. She was panicking and thought desperately how to improve her situation. She decided on full honesty and complete disclosure.

"I found the mirror, made an innocent comment about wanting to see what would happen to my friends in battle, and it showed me three different outcomes!" she said, trying not to shriek in her agitation and eagerness to explain. "One of them showed me struggling over to help my friends and showed me how the demon could be defeated. I did what it showed, and the prediction came true just the way I'd seen it."

"I took the mirror and brought it out tonight to ask some more questions," she continued, relieved that the TaiYoukai seemed interested in listening without interruption. He definitely wasn't his brother. "I was about to ask it to tell about the future with…" she paused, not wanting to tell that part. She could see that Sesshoumaru knew what she'd been about to confess anyway, even though the words hadn't been formed. He looked a little disgusted, but largely indifferent.

"When you came and surprised me, and I said your name on accident. The mirror must have thought I'd been asking about you. You saw the rest. I didn't do anything!" she protested again, hoping this would be enough for him. She was just as upset about the vision as he was, but had the disadvantage of not even knowing what the mirror was to begin with.

"You would have heard me if I'd said any spells," she finished, waiting for his response. He just watched her for a moment longer.

She could see his nose twitch discreetly. She had a feeling he was trying to sniff out any evidence of deceit. InuYasha would do the same. Their heightened demon senses would alert them to any change in her normal behavior. She doubted he'd smell anything aside from her nerves and fear right now.

For the space of many, many long moments the demon lord looked at her coldly, his expression one of boredom and perplexed disgust. He knew that the mirror was reported to show three true and possible outcomes for each situation requested of it. But if that were right, the situation was even more complex than he'd thought. There was no way Sesshoumaru would ever protect and grow possessive of a human female, especially not the loud and abrasive traveling companion of his brother. He certainly would never, under any circumstance in any universe, hold and kiss this same female. It was impossible and deeply insulting.

But the mirror did not lie. Its reflections did not always come to pass, since only one result could come from each sequence of events on this timeline, but it did not make false predictions. Everything it showed was a possible outcome for the future, based on events in a cause and effect relationship like everything else in life.

He was perplexed and angry. He knew the outcome showing him raising the slain miko back from the dead so she could complete her duty was the right one, but that was not the issue. If she had truly done nothing to influence the mirror's actions, there should never have been the possibility for the actions of his counterparts in the second and third visions.

Yet he did not sense any falsehood coming from the girl. He could smell her fear and apprehension, but her own confusion was so strong it was practically tangible. He believed that she did not know why the mirror showed what it did, and that she didn't even know how it came to grant her wish for insight into the future.

He snorted in disgust. Trust a human female to mess with mystical items they didn't understand. Yet another reason why humans were so miserably short lived.

He regarded the mirror in his hand. Traditionally only the women of his family had been able to work the mirror. It responded to their closeness to the blood of his family. The mirror was forever linked to the Taisho line, either through blood or through marriage. It had been dormant these last centuries, unused after the death of his mother.

Sesshoumaru considered the girl before him. She was unmarked, so his idiot half brother hadn't claimed her as a mate. However, she reeked of him. His stench clung to her purposefully, a clear indication that she was under his less than impressive protection. If they'd been promised to each other or intimate in any way, it might be enough to satisfy the mirror.

Sesshoumaru told himself that he was upset at the thought only because he was upset at every thought of his pathetic, weak brother. It had nothing to do with the female slowly trying to inch away from him.

He tucked the mirror into his satchel and turned to walk away from her. He wouldn't spare her any more words this evening. She was lucky he'd decided to spare her life. He left without a backwards glance, taking to the skies.

Kagome was left a pool of emotions. Shock, relief, confusion and frustration rambled around in her mind making her alternately feel like fainting bonelessly or kicking a big rock in anger.

She didn't know what had just happened, but was really glad he was gone. And she was happy to be rid of that cursed mirror. It had saved the lives of her friends but its other revelations had almost counteracted that. What a headache.

Kagome sighed pensively and sat down on the edge of the well. What was she supposed to think now Thanks to the prophetic mirror she knew what might happen in the future and saw how the battle with Naraku could end. In spite of differences where she was concerned, each situation had shown them victorious with the help of Sesshoumaru. Naraku was always defeated and her friends all lived, and that in itself was extremely comforting.

But now she was faced with the knowledge that in two out of three futures Sesshoumaru was tender. That went over in her mind about the same way thinking about snogging alligators did. She had to suppress shudders and slight gags.

It didn't add up. She never saw the demon unless the brothers were fighting. When that happened she was usually concerned about the lives of her friends and herself, not building relationships with her attacker.

She shook it off and decided not to think about it ever again. She knew what the future would bring. Kikyou would kill her, Sesshoumaru would bring her back to life, she would purify the shard, and he would disappear forever. It was the only possibility.

* * *

The next few days passed in a blur of distraction. Kagome functioned as she always did. None of her friends had any reason to suspect anything unusual because she didn't act or feel any differently. She stayed busy and happy, trying to bring her friends cheer however she could. It was only her thoughts when alone that wandered over to her new puzzle. 

It was a little bewildering. She'd never even thought about him in a romantic light, yet she was supposedly capable of allowing him to kiss her.

And it looked like it had been quite a kiss, at that.

Kagome was more sensible than many girls; she found it hard to notice physical features first. It was true that Sesshoumaru was stunningly beautiful. But his beauty was the like a sleek, deadly viper. Every line could be in place, every color and texture perfect, but there was no way you wanted to spend any length of time in its presence. Beauty turned into something more factual and less emotional. It was always there but didn't have the power to attract.

Kagome paused in her line of reasoning, content that she'd turned her thoughts away from the demon lord and all of his dubious charms. She wouldn't be wasting her time thinking about a being that would never be capable of loving her, and who held no appeal or attraction.

Unfortunately, Kagome was about to learn the power of suggestion. Never entertain a thought unless you want it to stay over for dinner.

The germ had entered her mind. She'd admitted that Sesshoumaru had beauty, even if dismissing it for being cold and unapproachable. She'd admitted to herself, even if derogatorily, that someone might find him appealing if they didn't know what he was really like. From there it was a small step towards dissecting each aspect of him.

She only did it to find flaws, naturally.

She knew that the way he fought took great deals of energy and strength, so he must be very well built. This led her to, scientifically- of course, wonder what sort of muscle he would have. His speed and agility led her to imagine he'd be lean and long, instead of dense and bulky. She knew he'd be well-proportioned. He was tall, and though he wore loose battle clothing, it didn't take form fitting t-shirts to see that his shoulders were broad. He moved with a grace that would be fascinating to watch if it weren't usually demonstrated with deadly intent.

She was soon spending unusual amounts of time thinking about the cold TaiYoukai, drawn into his world without even realizing how much time she spent there. She told herself it was natural to think about someone like him. You can't protect yourself if you're not educated about your opponent, and he'd proven himself her opponent on several occasions.

So it was that Kagome's mind accepted the possible futures, even if her consciousness rejected it completely.

Sesshoumaru fared a little better than Kagome. He was a creature of control. All his life he'd been motivated by a great desire to be powerful and strong, purely on his own merit. He was used to long hours of training, meditation, and reflection, all geared towards making his body and intellect unmatchable without the aid of outside sources of power.

His features were inscrutable. His facade of indifference was a great tool for intimidation because he gave his opponents no clue about his real thoughts or feelings. He'd found long ago that people always give away more when you give away less. They can't stand an unfilled silence.

He let nothing penetrate his defenses. InuYasha's insults and erratic behavior often came close to destroying his control, but nothing beyond that had the power to affect him.

It was almost unnatural for a youkai as relatively young as he was to exert such effort on discipline, but he didn't mind being an oddity. There were many instances in his life where he'd been unable to control the situations he found himself in, and he hated that feeling. He would do all he could to minimize any feelings of powerlessness.

That was one of the reasons the mirror's prophecies had annoyed him so greatly. The mirror was telling him that at some point in the future all of his control and opinions on humanity would be completely disregarded. It told him he'd soon act without his usual amount of cool control and distance and could possibly go as far as to kiss a human. In public. With no intention of killing any witnesses afterwards.

It wasn't like the disgusting girl had any redeeming qualities. Sure she was pretty, if you found big eyes, shiny hair, pouty lips, and a graceful figure pretty. If you were in to that sort of thing, which he was emphatically not.

She must have been powerful to pull that stunt with Tessaiga the night he'd lost his arm to his bastard brother. She had survived all these years and several severely dangerous battle situations, but he knew it was not on her own merit. She always had the help of friends. Several times when they'd fought it seemed as if she were doomed to die, only saved at the last moment by fate' interference. So she wasn't powerful, merely lucky in her natural gift and ability to make strong friends.

His mind wanted to explore her merits as a friend, for the loyalty she showed her small band of shard hunters, but his will clamped down on any further consideration. He would not think about her kindness and protection of the small kitsune she'd practically adopted. He would not think of her dedication to her cause, something she'd pursued for the four years since he'd first become aware of her. He would not think of her ability to handle high stress situations, and how she hadn't run from him, even when he looked scary enough to freeze stone. He would not think about how pretty she'd looked at the well, moonlight glinting off her hair, eyes wide with anticipation, scent spiking sharply with her anxiety.

No, he would not think of any of those things at all.

With that resolution, Sesshoumaru continued on his way, reclaimed mirror in his satchel. He'd gotten what he'd come for and would patrol his lands and do all the duties the Lord of the Western Lands was required to do.

As he always did, Sesshoumaru let his instincts guide him and set his course. He traveled as usual; slaughtering any violent lower youkai he stumbled across if they approached him or looked to make trouble in any other way. He was busy and content to fall back into his old routine, traveling as his inner demon instructed.

He never seemed to realize that he traveled parallel to the shard hunters, staying only far enough away to avoid detecting their scents or being detected in return.

He would have been horrified had he known.

* * *

A/N: Well, finally a demonstration of manners withoutleaving you all annoyed with me for cliff hangers. Plus, you guys got a future kiss, and that should make everyone happy. 

I think you guys will get spoiled if I keep updating so quickly. I am a working woman, you know.


	4. Chapter 4

Mirrored Future

By Amazonian21

Recap: _As he always did, Sesshoumaru let his instincts guide him and set his course. He traveled as usual; slaughtering any violent lower youkai he stumbled across if they approached him or looked to make trouble in any other way. He was busy and content to fall back into his old routine, traveling as his inner demon instructed._

_He never seemed to realize that he traveled parallel to the shard hunters, staying only far enough away to avoid detecting their scents or being detected in return._

_He would have been horrified had he known._

* * *

Chapter 4

Weeks passed with little change in Kagome's life. She couldn't complain of boredom because there was always plenty to do in her hectic life, but she was starting to feel a little bogged down by the routine of demon violence, shard hunting, near death experience, and endless travel. She could sense that she'd either have to make a trip home to see how her family was holding up in her absence or risk getting irritable with her friends and family. She needed a break from all the routine.

When did action and adventure become mundane? She felt spoiled.

It just seemed like she put out a lot of effort without a lot of return. They'd made progress with the jewel and were closer than ever to completing it, but it still had gone on for a long time. Most of her teenage years had been spent fighting the good fight.

Added to that, she never made any real progress with InuYasha, either.

The two had shared hugs, tenderness, and other acts of affection, but the hanyou always held back. He never gave her anything she could count on, nothing definite to comfort herself with at night. She felt like he kept her alive and waiting for scraps of affection to fall from the table, confident that she'd always be there and only give him what he wanted, without thought to her own needs. And maybe he was right; it certainly had been that way for as long as she'd known him.

He was so irregular. One minute he was on the verge of a declaration, the next he acted like the sight of her made him sick. She never knew what actions would set him off or make him awkward. He kept her at arms length at the best of times, but when he got embarrassed he would pull back even more, effectively cutting her out of his life entirely for days on end.

His sporadic attentions and possessiveness were confusing. He made sure to protect her and keep her safe from harm. When Kouga showed up he still acted like a jealous boyfriend. He hated her to leave his side and spent most of his time with her, even just to talk about their days or the things going on around them, but she never knew where she stood with him. They weren't dating, but they were more than just casual friends. She didn't feel for Miroku the way she felt for InuYasha and knew he didn't feel for Sango the way he felt for her. They had affection and care, but had no security.

It was tiring and frustrating. When she was with InuYasha she knew her body was as safe as possible, but her emotions were another story entirely. She didn't think she could take it much longer. It had been a long four years of angst and uncertainty. She didn't think love should feel like this, but had precious little to compare it to.

She was sitting with Shippou next to a nearby river. The days were getting hotter and hotter. A temporary hiatus had been called by the exhausted Miroku, Sango, and Kagome when walking felt like severe torture.

"InuYasha, if you don't let us stop for the afternoon you'll have three dead humans to lug around and no shard detector," Kagome warned when the sun reached its peak and the hanyou still showed no signs of slowing.

"Keh," he snorted without looking back, "You guys are wimps. Quit complaining and hurry up. If you spent as much time walking as complaining we'd be there by now."

"Kagome has a good point," Miroku offered, pausing to lean against his staff and wipe the sweat from his brow. "This weather is really bad to travel in. We should rest for at least the hottest part of the day and continue traveling in the evening."

"Nah," InuYasha said, dismissively. "You weaklings won't set the pace. I'm not going to stop just because you're whining about being uncomfortable. Why loose hours of traveling just because you're lazy?"

"InuYasha…" Kagome warned, thoroughly hot and tired of the whole discussion, "Remember the other day when I said your favorite three letter word? That's what you're looking at right now. We're stopping as soon as we get to water."

The hanyou's ears were pressed tight against his head in annoyance and slight fear. He knew she'd do it. He figured he was lucky she hadn't straight off. She never would have warned him in the old days.

He decided to pretend to be generous. Truth was that he'd been getting hot and sick of travel himself, but hadn't wanted to admit the weakness. This was as good an excuse as anything.

"Fine, bitch," he said, turning his nose to one side. "But you guys can find your own damn water."

Kagome smiled to herself. She'd already seen signs of runoff along the way and was pretty sure there'd be some sort of water at the bottom of the hill they were on. It looked like they'd hit a valley soon.

The group trudged on, a new purpose ahead of them. They all wanted to wash the road grime from their bodies and swim the day away.

When they reached the river Kagome turned to look smugly at the hanyou. He seemed a little put out. It was obvious he wanted them to beg and plead with him to use his superior senses to find water, but now he wasn't needed. With a muttered, 'Keh!' he turned to find something to amuse himself.

Kagome just laughed and walked into the woods to change into her suit. She called for Shippou to meet her at the water's edge and enjoyed a brief hike through the cool foliage.

She didn't think she'd gone that far in, but soon she was out of sight of the little group of friends. She wandered about, not paying strict attention to her surroundings. She didn't sense any menacing presence around, and the forest was filled with the happy noise of wildlife.

Soon, however, she came across a little clearing. There, in the middle, sitting on a log and busily humming to herself, sat Rin. Kagome recognized Sesshoumaru's little ward right away. The girl was no longer a cheerful child of five, tagging along after her demon protector with tons of carefree babble. She was now an older child of nine, gangly and all developing limbs. She still retained her aura of sunshine and happiness, but it was tempered by a maturity that hadn't always been there before. She was starting to emulate her stoic guardian, trying hard to keep her emotions in check and walk with an arrogant air.

It didn't fully work, most of the time. She still allowed almost every expression to cross her face as she felt them. Right now she was looking at Kagome with a mixture of interest and caution.

The girls had seen each other on several occasions over the years, but mainly as enemies by association. Rin knew that Kagome was nice, and Kagome thought Rin was very sweet, but that didn't fix everything. It was difficult to make fast friends when the two inu brothers fought so viciously every time they saw each other. Rin felt instantly defensive of the TaiYoukai, thinking him capable of no wrong, and Kagome worried for InuYasha, even if he seemed to instigate more fights than he should.

The girls had made strides, though, through the years. When the battles became more and more routine and it seemed the brothers mainly met to blow off steam and get exercise, they started to relax together. The past couple of times InuYasha and Sesshoumaru had met on the battle field, Kagome had gone on to set up camp with Miroku and Sango. Rin had asked to come along and had helped Kagome boil water for tea and ramen.

Now that they were face to face once more with no immediate threat of violence, the girl eyed her with friendly but wary curiosity.

"Kagome-chan, it is good to see you," she said stoically. Kagome laughed because she could see the poorly suppressed excitement flashing across her face. The girl was so cute.

"Rin-chan, it's good to see you too! What are you doing out here?" Kagome nervously looked around for any sign of the girl's guardian. She didn't want to run into Sesshoumaru if she could help it at all. She'd slowly stopped thinking about what she'd seen in the mirror, but the images had flashed through her mind. The kiss and all the trouble it had caused was forefront in her attentions.

"I was just going to swim. Sesshoumaru-sama said to wait here for the afternoon. He has to take care of some business so I'm playing," she said simply.

"Well," Kagome said with a smile, "why don't you come with me and Shippou to play? We're going to spend the afternoon in the water too."

Rin forgot her act and smiled as she clapped her hands in joy. She looked around for Jaken but the toad youkai was no where to be seen. She shrugged and followed Kagome without telling him where she was going. She knew he'd find her scent and come after her when he was done messing around, just like he always did.

They reached the water in no time at all. Shippou and Rin darted straight for the water with no hesitation. They didn't even test the temperature before jumping in with abandon.

Kagome had more reservations. It was summer in the valley, but this water probably came from mountain snow melting. It looked like it was just waiting to freeze her to death if she weren't careful.

Dipping one toe in cautiously, she discovered the river was balmy and pleasant. She canon balled in directly, splashing Rin and Shippou with a great wave.

This, naturally, led to a canon ball contest. Kagome gave it her all. She had the advantage of size and was soon disqualified by the two children. She agreed to be the judge while the two continued, with apparently inexhaustible energy. She was glad for the reprieve and sat on a sun warmed rock to the side to watch.

Shippou was slightly smaller than the human girl but made up for any lack through a lot of creativity. He wasn't afraid to keep his jumps loose, increasing his body surface. Soon it was apparent the two were pretty evenly matched, and Kagome lazily watched as they kept trying to out do each other.

Just as things were beginning to calm down Kagome felt a change in the air. There was a great aura of Jaki coming their way. Her miko senses told her that a large and angry demon was headed their way quickly, and that it meant them all harm.

"Shippou, Rin, get out of the water now! We have to go back to camp," Kagome said insistently. She was pleased when the two children did as she instructed without complaint or questioning. They could see the urgency in her face and had been around enough danger in their lives to recognize when obedience was mandatory.

Kagome grabbed towels and threw them at the two sopping children while hefting up her backpack. She scooted them on ahead of her through the trees, back on to camp, as she felt the first wave of negative energy wash over her, almost knocking her down.

She turned to face the enemy, miko powers rising, as the massivebeast broke free of the tree line.

* * *

InuYasha was bored. He hated resting. It made him feel useless. He wasn't a stupid hanyou but he knew he was made for action and motion, not for sitting around watching the world pass him by. The day was hot, though, and even he could see the sense in resting. 

It didn't keep him from getting bored, however.

He sat around for an hour or so watching the breeze through the tree leaves. Sango was napping with Kirara and Miroku was meditating nearby, with his hands in his lap for once. While Kagome and Shippou were down near the river swimming there was nothing for him to do. He listened to their games lazily, the sounds of splashing and laughter reaching his sensitive ears from where they played. Nothing wrong there.

He thought his eyes would melt from his skull with boredom. Where was something to kill when you needed it?

Almost on cue, his delicate nose picked up the first hint of his half brother's scent. InuYasha sat up with an almost pleased expression on his face and began to track the scent. It was coming from the opposite direction from where Kagome and Shippou played.

With a smirk and cocky grin, InuYasha took off to pick a fight with his bastard brother.

He sped through the treetops with ease. Jumping from branch to branch felt great, and helped warm him up and get him psyched. He knew that his brother would smell him coming long before he came into sight and wanted to be ready for attack before he came upon him.

He came into a clearing to see Sesshoumaru standing impassively before him, lazily looking him up and down as if unimpressed by the sight of the hanyou in ready battle stance.

"Alright, you bastard, what do you want now? Have you come to get your ass kicked again?" InuYasha bantered, hand going to Tessaiga to draw his deadly sword.

"This Sesshoumaru doesn't explain himself to hanyou scum," the lord said coldly, expression never varying even while reaching to draw his own sword.

"Keh, I know you're just trying to get your hands on this sword again, you jerk," InuYasha said derisively, moving to attack. "Come on already so I can kill you before dinner."

"Hn," was all Sesshoumaru said as he began to move.

It was a sight worth seeing. When their swords met and they began in earnest, it was like the elements had come out to clash. Both brothers fought with power and great strength, but that was all their styles had in common. InuYasha was hot and passionately wild, swinging each blow unreservedly, never holding back any of his might. He fought from the heart, guided by instinct alone. The demon lord, on the other hand, was tightly coiled, precise, and efficient. No energy was wasted in wild swings, each move was carefully considered in the millisecond before thought turned to action. Their battle was like watching an electric firestorm, with cold currents of straight energy flowing through an inferno of heat.

Blades crashed and InuYasha's curses rang through the forest. Sesshoumaru didn't speak any words, but smirked plenty when InuYasha's lack of technique would cost him a hit point. The hanyou had improved with time but still lacked much in style. Sesshoumaru was secretly pleased. He too had been getting antsy. He wasn't sure of the cause, but ever since the encounter with the miko at the well he'd felt out of sorts. He was easily distracted and much more prone to contemplation. He needed the stress and immediacy of battle to return his mind to the present. He enjoyed the stress of muscle moving over muscle, and loved the shock through his arms as sword met unyielding sword.

It was nice that his brother was good for something after all.

InuYasha was thrilled with the fight. His muscles were cheering over the exertion. Walking with a slow bunch of humans day after day and fighting with boring demons who offered no challenge was hard on the young half demon. His brother was one of the few creatures who gave him any real difficulty. It was great, and he had a hard time keeping the grin off his face.

The brothers continued in this manner for what could have been hours, both fairly well matched. Neither gained the upper hand because neither was guided by true emotion. A casual passerby with no knowledge of the animosity between siblings would be tempted to call their battle a sparring match.

The fight came to an abrupt stop as both brothers stiffened and turned back towards the river. Both had felt the eerie calm that settled over the area before smelling the youkai that invaded the forest.

"Kagome!" InuYasha cried softly, turning his back on his brother to sprint towards the endangered miko.

Without a pause, Sesshoumaru followed suit, thinking of his little ward, unprotected in the wood.

Sesshoumaru came closer to the river in a blur of white. He could smell the old scent of his ward in the clearing where he'd left her and followed it as it joined with the miko and kitsune's scents leading towards the river. He never paused in his pursuit, single mindedly moving to come to Rin's aid and kill whatever may be threatening her. With threat to one he cared for present, his demon side took over, completely focused on the matter at hand.

He could tell his brother was distracted by his fear for the miko. He also never wavered from following her scent, but his anxiety rolled off of him, repulsive to the TaiYoukai's sensitive nose. The pup should have learned to control himself years ago.

It was apparent from the noises ahead that the lower demon would reach the three before their protectors ever could. Sesshoumaru steeled himself for the worst, expecting to find Rin and the girl injured. His eyes bled red at the thought. He growled low in his throat and vowed that the demon responsible would not have an easy death. He would use his poison, and would relish the creature's agony as it met its end slowly, melting from the inside out. His lips curled in a fierce snarl, even as he sped up towards the girls and kit.

He leapt through the trees, sword blazing, ready to kill whatever needed killing. InuYasha was one step behind him, just as ready to act with lethal intent.

What met their eyes caused both brothers to stare in surprise.

Kagome stood with Rin and Shippou clutching her back tightly. The two used her as a human shield from the monster towering all of them. Their eyes were wide as they pressed the sides of their faces into her sides, confident in the older girl's ability to protect them.

Kagome was proud and strong, determined to do her duty for the two children behind her. A light of fierce determination shone in her eyes as she stood with arms raised in front. Black hair whipped around her head like a fierce halo, crackling with the energy of her righteous fury.

She was beautiful.

Sesshoumaru found himself wanting to move to stand by the miko's side. He felt a fierce, untamed protectiveness flaring in him. His inner demon demanded he help the woman who so selflessly protected his ward with her very life. He was deeply impressed that the woman would die for a child that had no claim on her affections outside a few casual meetings. It was either sheer human sentimental folly or the sign of deepest kindness and virtue. He wasn't sure which, but both were admirable in her.

He restrained himself from going to her, however, knowing that her defenses wouldn't discriminate between friend or foe. Beside him InuYasha was checking the same urges, coming to a similar conclusion.

The demon Kagome faced was caught mid charge with her blast of purifying powers. It did not stand a chance against this miko when she was protecting her loved ones. Flesh vaporized off bone as the explosion reduced the monstrous form to ash, leaving two amazed brothers and one exhausted young woman.

Kagome slumped to the ground, worn out after her sudden energy use. She had focused her powers and directed them exactly as she'd wanted, but she hadn't used normal reservations with the amount of force behind her attack. She was completely drained.

"Kagome!" Rin yelled, kneeling over to clutch the miko fallen at her feet. Her cry caused the brothers to start into action. Both moved forward, but InuYasha reached their side first.

"Get off," InuYasha said to Rin roughly, moving over to pick Kagome up. Sesshoumaru came up behind him and walked past to check on Rin. He did not object when the girl threw her arms around his waist and hugged him fiercely. He would allow her this reassurance even if it made him slightly uncomfortable. His one hand came up to rest lightly on the girl's head and she took reassurance from the action.

"Is Kagome okay?" the little girl asked into his stomach, as the little kitsune climbed onto the miko's prone form before being knocked aside by InuYasha.

Sesshoumaru looked over to the little miko, amazed at how vulnerable such a being looked. Not seconds ago she had let loose a blast powerful enough to injure even he, and now she was reduced to an invalid. However, he could see that she was merely tired and would sustain no permanent damage.

"The miko will be fine," he told Rin emotionlessly. Rin found the intended comfort in the words, however, and seemed relieved. "It's time to go, Rin," he continued, moving to walk away from the little group. There was nothing for him to do here.

He expected Rin to follow without question, but her reply surprised him.

"No, I want to stay with Kagome-chan until she feels better," the girl insisted. She looked ready to either cry or set her heels in firmly. Possibly both. Either way she was defying him and he could not allow it. Rin needed to remember her place.

"Rin," he said firmly. One word had the desired effect. Rin looked down sadly knowing she had lost this round. She turned to Kagome and walked over to the miko, placing her hand on the girl's head.

"I have to go now, Kagome-chan," she said sadly. The weary miko managed a tired smile at the girl, nodding to show she understood.

"I'll see you soon, Rin-chan," she promised. She was surprised and a little touched, next, when Rin stooped and placed a small kiss on her forehead before walking off after an already retreating Sesshoumaru.

It wasn't long before both were lost to the forest.

* * *

That night would be one of the most frustrating in all of Sesshoumaru's life. He sat at the edge of his small camp's fire, eyes flickering in the spaces between shadow and light. He was upset because once again life steered his thoughts to the girl who so faithfully followed his brother. 

She had no place in his thoughts. She was an occasional obstacle to what he wanted, nothing more. She didn't even rank amongst his enemies because she lacked the necessary importance. She was a nobody.

But she had managed to attract the attentions of his inner demon, something that hadn't happened in a long time. He didn't know anything about her. He didn't like her, wanted nothing to do with her in any way. They fought on opposite sides of his brother. She was nothing to him, and nothing in the scheme of the universe.

So why should she haunt his thoughts? Why should the image of her fierce defense of the child he'd accepted into his protection affect him so strongly? Why would his body try to betray him into acting on her behalf?

Taking all this into consideration, after seeing what he had in the heirloom mirror, left Sesshoumaru at a complete loss.

He was a cold demon of control. He had a lot of responsibilities and spent his life traveling his lands, ruling with an iron fist. He did not desire any interruptions, and resented the turn his thoughts were taking. They were frivolous and embarrassing, and he would have nothing more to do with it. He would put the miko out of his mind, and that was the end of it.

Sesshoumaru, unfortunately, never had an adolescence as a teenage girl. Thus he wasn't aware that once some wheels are set in motion, they're almost impossible to stop.

He made a rookie mistake, one that any sixteen year old girl could have told him to avoid.

He decided to confront the miko and find out everything he could, determine to see nothing but flaws and so obliterate every positive aspect that had taken root in his mind. He would find her to be the most annoying, aggravating, and normal woman he'd ever seen, and would banish her from all thought.

So thinking, the TaiYoukai decided to grant Rin's wish to check up on the miko. He told himself that really he was just ensuring himself a peaceful journey, free of a nagging and depressed human child. It had nothing to do with his own desire to see how the miko fared, and everything to do with reveling in her human weaknesses.

Poor youkai never stood a chance.

* * *

A/N: Here are some weird stats that I don't understand: This story is on 33 alert lists, 14 people's favorite lists, and has 1554 hits. Yet it only has 36 reviews total. Not that I'm complaining or fishing, but come on. People with the alerts and favorites, represent!I can't get to know you if I never hear from you. 

And second consecutive chapter without a bona fide cliff hanger. Might need to fix that.


	5. Chapter 5

Mirrored Future

by Amazonian

Recap: _He decided to confront the miko and find out everything he could, determine to see nothing but flaws and so obliterate every positive aspect that had taken root in his mind. He would find her to be the most annoying, aggravating, and normal woman he'd ever seen, and would banish her from all thought._

_So thinking, the TaiYoukai decided to grant Rin's wish to check up on the miko. He told himself that really he was just ensuring himself a peaceful journey, free of a nagging and depressed human child. It had nothing to do with his own desire to see how the miko fared, and everything to do with reveling in her human weaknesses._

_Poor youkai never stood a chance._

* * *

Chapter 5 

The morning dawned bright and hopeful. There was an air of expectancy to the day, as if the world waited to see what would happen with fate's newest favorite toys. Whatever it was should prove interesting, because wheels had been set in motion that almost guaranteed a big bang.

InuYasha poked Miroku and Sango awake as soon as the sun rose in the sky. Kagome he nudged more gently, still worried after her collapse. He would have been embarrassed if he could have seen the look of concern on his face, but luckily he couldn't. Four years and he still felt uncomfortable showing his true emotions. The look was gone by the time Kagome woke up fully, replaced with a studied air of impatience.

"Can you travel today, or are you going to pass out on me again?" he asked, looking her over for signs of stress or illness.

Kagome wasn't fooled by his tone. She was used to the hanyou and his gruff ways. She knew he cared, even if he was horrible at showing it.

"I think I'll be fine, InuYasha, don't worry," she reassured him gently. She stretched and tested her muscles. She was a bit sore and a little tense but it was nothing moving around wouldn't cure. "I'll get breakfast ready," she promised.

"Good," InuYasha said, and turned to walk away, satisfied she would be alright.

The little camp bustled with life and activity as Kagome cooked, Sango prepared weaponry and rolled up bedding, Miroku brought water for their morning use, and InuYasha hunted for breakfast meat. Shouts and chatter could be heard for miles as the group prepared for their day happily, pleased to be in each others' company and happy that the morning allowed them to act their ages for the moment.

Sesshoumaru's morning camp was a study in contrast. There was no morning bustle, no friendly bantering or good natured griping. Sesshoumaru was simply the first to wake from his light doze, and the one to determine when the others should get up. He nudged his toad retainer awake none too gently, not sparing a word for the floundering little demon. The toad, starting into consciousness with a squawk, rose in turn to prod Rin awake.

Rin sat up, rubbed her eyes, turned to smile at the impassive youkai, and set about making her own morning meal. Her breakfast consisted of cold rice and dried fish, taken from a pack that rested on the back of Ah Un, Sesshoumaru's double headed dragon steed. When she was done eating she washed her face with water Jaken had hauled from the river and prepared for another day of travel.

All this was done in near silence, Rin occasionally humming to herself to break the monotony of the lack of conversation.

Sesshoumaru watched his ward's morning preparations. While she worked he'd gotten his own breakfast, scaring up some rabbit in the underbrush. He preferred his meat raw and ate away from the girl's eyes, not wanting her to see the bloody flesh. She was sensitive about such things. Sesshoumaru did not live to cater to her whims, but he found life went more smoothly when small consessions were made.

There were much larger considerations to take in to account at present. They'd passed a human settlement a few weeks ago, and Sesshoumaru had surreptitiously observed the villagers there. Several of their adolescent females in particular had caught his attention. It placed thoughts in the TaiYoukai's head that had never entered before. Suddenly, Sesshoumaru knew that soon, big changes would come into the life of the small girl who traveled with him.

Rin was growing up. She was no longer a little creature he let follow him on a whim. She was turning in to an individual, complete with her own thoughts and opinions on everything.

Rin was supposed to just be Rin, his acquired shadow. She wasn't supposed to be a complication. The beginnings of her time with him hadn't been.

He wasn't sure why he'd resurrected the girl after Kouga's damned wolves had killed her, and he didn't want to dwell on it. All he knew was that the girl who'd so selflessly tended him when wounded hadn't deserved to die. Tenseiga, needing a loving heart to activate its powers, had agreed to raise her back to life at his request. He didn't need to examine his feelings for the girl any further. To do so would be admitting his heart had vulnerabilities and capabilities outside of violence, and such was ridiculous sentiment.

But all that aside, he could not ignore the fact that Rin would grow into a woman someday. She would need to find a mate, have a family, and live a normal human life. He couldn't pretend she was just a curiosity any longer. She wasn't a pet for his amusement, or something he could cast aside when she began to bore him. He had a responsibility to make provisions for her future, a future amongst humans and away from the danger she faced far too often.

The demon on the field hadn't been the first to endanger Rin. She'd been kidnaped by Naraku himself and had survived. Sesshoumaru was no demon to let weaker, insignificant creatures decide his fate, but he needed to consider the child. She should not grow up thinking that sort of mortal peril was normal.

She was like a strange inversion of an animal raised in captivity. A human child raised to run wild amongst demons in the forest? Sesshoumaru kept tight order and didn't let her indulge any sloppy habits, but he was unable to instill the human mannerisms that would allow her to like as a human female should. Instead, his war-like nature had her thinking that all life was a physical struggle punctuated by flower fields.

One day the girl would be fully grown and would have missed out on her chance for a complete life. He couldn't take her options away when she was incapable of deciding for herself. She would choose to stay with him, never knowing there were other possibilities. He couldn't keep her with him just to have her grow to resent his presence in her life when she was past her prime, family-less and without any ties to the world outside himself.

Unfortunately, Sesshoumaru wasn't the sort of demon humans willingly interacted with. He preferred it that way, seeing as there were only a handful of the vermin he didn't detest. Humans were sloppy, loud, and arrogant, and he welcomed their fear. But he would need someone's help to aid Rin in her transition. It needn't happen right away, but a human influence in her life would make things smoother as the years passed and the need grew stronger.

Sesshoumaru didn't even let it enter his mind that the only human he trusted to be around Rin was the same human he was supposedly capable of kissing in some unfathomable future. It didn't affect his decision to seek out Kagome's company at all.

Not one bit.

Sesshoumaru called his small entourage together and headed out in the direction of his brother's camp. He knew there would be trouble when he appeared. His brother would be aching for a fight. Normally Sesshoumaru would enjoy indulging him, if nothing else than for the chance to cause the whelp some pain. However, the idiot's efforts this morning would be counterproductive to his plans.

He needed to get the miko alone so he could tell her what he expected from her. He had no doubt that the girl would obey his orders- she'd be too scared not to- but he didn't want his bastard half brother to lengthen his time in her presence by arguing.

But how to convince the miko that she wanted to be alone with a youkai who'd previously tried to kill her? It wouldn't be easy. Rin would help, the older girl seemed to genuinely care for his small ward, but she wouldn't be a sure success.

He would worry about it when he got there. He was used to getting his way. This would be no different.

Sesshoumaru was so unaffected by the mere thought of the miko that he didn't even notice the way his inner demon seemed to settle down for the first time since yesterday at the thought of seeing the girl again so soon. It wasn't hard for him to repress the upheaval he was experiencing, the way his instincts led him towards unhealthy thoughts about the raven haired girl. He dismissed it as indigestion and was glad when his stomach had finally decided to behave.

Little did Sesshoumaru understand that the decision to see the girl once more, for whatever reason, was simply another step taken along the path of destiny. The TaiYoukai was many things- fierce, intelligent, sharp, strong- but even he didn't know how time and the future worked.

Sesshoumaru's path had been set the moment he set eyes on the girl holding the mirror. Possibly even before then, but that moment's branch had been the thickest.

That limb, in the tree of time, had come to a serious split. This particular divergence was much more significant than the millions of others that had come before. While those were little choices (using one item of clothing automatically making it impossible to choose another item of clothing, which in turn decreases your options for future clothing, resulting in a clothing destiny), this had been a big choice. This was Fate, and Destiny, no longer fate and destiny.

Sesshoumaru, for all his knowledge and experience, didn't know that coming to pick a fight with InuYasha and to recover the artifact meant seeing Kagome in the moonlight. That in turn increased the likelihood that he would choose to stay near her longer than necessary. That meant he was much more likely to share the mirror's visions with the young miko. Consequentially, he was certain to think of her more often than he was comfortable with. And it's no secret where that is sure to lead. Seeing his future had ensured his future. That was the real secret of the mirror. Once you see a desirable or intriguing outcome your mind takes measures to secure it.

Sesshoumaru had reached the end of his tree's branches. All choices had led to this road, and each junction was fated to end along this path. It always had, so it always would, and always will. That is how time works.

But Sesshoumaru was oblivious to all of this. His inner demon, however, was not. But Sesshoumaru had denied all of its input up until now, citing stomach troubles or any other ailment under the sun, and he wasn't about to start listening at this stage of the game.

Without telling Rin where they were going, wishing to avoid any unnecessary chatter or squeals of excitement, Sesshoumaru kept a steady pace down into the valley. He soon came across his brother's scent and could almost hear the second InuYasha became aware of his presence in return.

"Damn it!" he heard yelled across the tree tops. Sesshoumaru picked up his pace, drawing his ward along with him so they'd reach the camp before the hanyou decided to meet them in the forest.

He walked into the clearing that was already cleared of the evidence of their nightly repast. He didn't spare a glance for the demon slayer or monk. His eyes lingered on Kagome briefly before they focused on his brother. InuYasha had already drawn his sword and was prepared to launch into an attack.

"Calm yourself, nuisance," Sesshoumaru said coldly, looking at the frothing half demon with a studied air of indifference, "I have not come for you today. Your antics do not interest this Sesshoumaru."

InuYasha sputtered at the dismissal, annoyed at being ignored as Sesshoumaru turned to the side to allow Rin to step forward.

When Rin saw Kagome she smiled and ran to the older girl's side. Kagome smiled in turn, and the two fell into a pleasant chat while the inu brothers circled each other warily.

"What is your brat doing here?" InuYasha demanded, looking warily to where the girl played happily with Kagome.

"This Sesshoumaru does not have to justify his actions, as I have told you before, simpleton. Rin owes Kagome a life-debt and wanted to make sure the girl is all right." Sesshoumaru declined to say anything further. It irked him that he'd said so much as it was. He was not used to explaining himself to anyone, much less strays with delusions of grandeur.

"Well, she saw her. Now get her grubby hands away from Kagome before she makes her sick," InuYasha said brashly, with little regard for his own safety.

Kagome overheard what he said, and turned to see Sesshoumaru go deathly still. It was the calm before the storm, a steady and terminal build up of electricity that would end with the biggest bolt of destructive lightning...

"InuYasha, SIT!" she yelled, desperately hoping it would be enough to distract both males from blood shed.

InuYasha plummeted face first into the ground while Sesshoumaru looked on. His anger was replaced with interested amusement as he watched the hanyou struggle against the spell's bonds, cursing all the while. It was obvious the half demon was humiliated and Sesshoumaru loved every minute of it. The miko was good for entertainment, if nothing else.

"Damn it, Kagome, you have about a three second's head start!" he yelled, mortified at his current position. His bastard brother could easily kill him where he sat and he'd be defenseless. How could she endanger him like that? More importantly, since he secretly knew his brother had too much well-touted honor to strike an opponent who was incapable of fighting back, how could she embarrass him like that?

Kagome shook his threats off. She hadn't survived all these years to let a couple harsh words get her down. Besides, she didn't feel bad for preserving the ingrate's life, even if he was a jerk. She simply turned back to her conversation with Rin and began chatting carelessly. She did, however, notice the gleam of amusement in Sesshoumaru's eye.

The sight made her pause for a moment. She wasn't used to seeing anything in his expression, and the sudden thaw in his icy exterior was riveting. She didn't realize she was staring until her gaze met the TaiYoukai's in one sudden moment.

She felt as if someone tried to pull her bellybutton out her back. She'd never realized how little eye contact she made in life until she was almost gutted by the power in meeting Sesshoumaru's gaze. It zinged through her, lighting all her nerve endings, until she felt like she'd never be able to move again.

She watched in awed confusion as she saw the unflappable youkai's eyes widen marginally in surprise, seemingly just as caught as she was.

The glance was only a moment in time, but it played over and over in her mind and along her nerves, the memory of a future kiss whispering tantalizingly right along with it. It was overwhelming and Kagome was thankful for the distraction that caused her to tear her eyes away.

'Two jewel shards, heading this way fast!' she thought with alarm. Then she put two and two together and groaned as realization set in.

"Kouga," she said miserably. This was not what she'd wanted out of this day.

"Damn it!" InuYasha swore again, finally able to pull himself fully off the ground. "As if I don't have enough crap to deal with now that Fluffy's here," he griped, angrily sniffing the air. "What does that bastard wolf want this time?" he said, fingering the hilt of Tessaiga.

"I'm sure he has his reasons," Miroku said, reminding Kagome of his and Sango's presence. They'd been off to the side during the brothers' exchange, ready to step in should things get ugly.

"Unfortunately," the monk continued, inching his way down the path towards the river, "Sango and I have stuff to do."

"Oh, yeah, stuff," Sango finished lamely, following after the monk. Neither wanted to be anywhere near the upcoming scene. It wouldn't be pretty. Things were already tense with Sesshoumaru present but at least he'd already shown he wasn't inclined towards violence at the moment. Kouga would be a different story entirely. Whenever the two were around Kagome they seemed to loose what little reason they had to begin with. Their vocabularies, never particularly extensive on the best of days, were reduced to shouting matches of 'bastard', 'idiot', 'wimp' and other similar endearments.

Sango looked towards Kagome, silently asking her if she wanted to come with them. Kagome shook her head sadly. For the moment someone would have to play referee. She would just visit with Rin for a while longer.

She resolutely ignored the demon lord to her left and focused on the energy she sensed coming from her right.

Kouga burst onto the scene in a whirlwind of dust and leaves. He'd already swept Kagome into his arms before her eyes even had time to adjust to his presence.

"Kagome!" he yelled joyfully, with all the exuberance of a puppy. "How's my woman?"

"I'm fine, Kouga-kun," she said, laughing as he swung her around. She did care for the wolf, even if he was such a pain. It was nice to be so highly regarded, even if only by an overly sporty wolf demon.

She didn't notice InuYasha's usual build up of temper or Sesshoumaru's surprising display of emotion. The demon lord expressed such strong displeasure at seeing the way the wolf handled Kagome that his eyes narrowed. Wonders would never cease.

"Arrrrgh," InuYasha began, a frustrated and possessive growl building up in his chest, "Get your filthy hands off her, you mangy mutt!"

Kagome sighed as she was immediately released as Kouga moved to engage InuYasha in a tiff more appropriate for school children than for seasoned warriors. It was so familiar and so routine she felt it might as well be scripted.

She sniffed angrily and moved to the side. Kouga had completely forgotten her presence in his enthusiasm to fight InuYasha. For a man so completely in love with her, he sure spent more time name calling and more energy fighting over his dubious right to molest her than he ever had spent getting to know her.

And InuYasha! The guy got so jealous over any rival male he would bash someone's brains in for looking at her, but he wouldn't use that energy to make her happy or emotionally secure.

It was enough to make a girl scream. Or at least it would be, if there hadn't already been four full years of this to dull her to the effects.

Kagome knew, now more than ever, that some things never change and that wasn't always a good thing.

She ignored the blustering males and turned to Rin. She took the girl's hand and nodded towards the river.

"Would you like to swim again, Rin-chan?" she asked, smiling at the incredulous girl. She'd been watching the interaction between demons with something close to awe.

"Yeah!" Rin answered enthusiastically, before turning to her stoic guardian for permission.

Sesshoumaru had turned from watching the disgusting sideshow and had been studying the miko's face instead for the past five minutes. His sharp eyes had not missed the way she'd first looked wistfully at the two demons before her gazed closed over with frustration, resignation, and slight amusement as her lips pursed at their antics. He'd been mildly surprised when she'd simply turned away from their violent display, completely unimpressed by the two males who supposedly fought over her. She seemed to sense it was nothing important, and had wisely sought entertainment elsewhere.

Sesshoumaru wondered how the two fools could take themselves seriously. It was obvious they did not truly care for the miko the way their actions implied. No demon that deeply in love would be capable of letting go what was theirs, no matter the reason. They certainly wouldn't stoop so low as to insult the object of their affections by making empty gestures.

Sesshoumaru knew he personally would never behave in this manner. If he found something worth cherishing, there wasn't a force in the world that would keep him away.

With that thought, he found himself once more watching the miko closely as she interacted with his ward. He'd felt the same jolt she had when their eyes locked. His inner demon had just grinned smugly as if satisfied with its argument, ready to make its closing remarks on a won case. Sesshoumaru wasn't so quick to agree. It had been powerful, and combined with all the confusing thoughts and feelings of the past couple of days, it was completely mind numbing, but it was no reason to forget who he was.

He was Lord Sesshoumaru, TaiYoukai of the Western Lands. He hated humans. He was the destroyer of the West. He leapt tall buildings in a single bound. He ate bunnies for breakfast, raw.

He did not like mikos. He did not like his brother's friends. He did not like human girls, especially not ones from the future. He did not like anything about the young woman standing in front of him. He barely deigned to nod regally when he saw that his ward awaited his permission to go to the river with the older girl.

He did not like this annoyance, and did not like the way his inner demon was sniggering snidely, completely heedless of how greatly Sesshoumaru hated to not be in control of a situation.

If all that were true and if Sesshoumaru thought so little of the miko, why did he suddenly find himself following Kagome down to the river?

* * *

A/N:Your reviews make me happy like back rubs make me happy. I've never had so many hits on a story. That's awesome to me, even ifnot allof you reading thisend up reviewing.I try to respond to each one if they're signed.They really do make me happy and I appreciate the time you take to leave them. 


	6. Chapter 6

Mirrored Future

By Amazonian 21

Rated M (ish), but don't hold me to it.

Chapter 6

Recap: _He did not like this annoyance, and did not like the way his inner demon was sniggering snidely, completely heedless of how greatly Sesshoumaru hated to not be in control of a situation._

_If all that were true and if Sesshoumaru thought so little of the miko, why did he suddenly find himself following Kagome down to the river?_

* * *

Sesshoumaru was in a bit of a bind. He was a creature of cool logic. His word was law, irrevocable and permanent. His instincts (when acknowledged) were never wrong. Since he lived and acted according to his logic, word, and instinct, every move he made was right without question. This made sense.

What didn't make sense was the way he was left internally debating the wisdom of following behind Kagome. He didn't want to do it, and wasn't willing to embarrass himself in any manner. Trailing like some lovesick puppy dog was definitely fodder for embarrassment.

Yet, if he was guided by instinct he must be right. Following Kagome was obviously what his inner demon demanded at the moment, and therefore the only thing he should be doing. It was sound and thorough judgment and the universe would just have to accept the correctness of his actions.

He had a sneaky suspicion that the universe was really the one laughing, and that he was the one no longer in control of the situation. Still he continued, because it was all he was able to do.

He held back as Rin and Kagome went into the bushes to change. He was struck with a sudden desire to continue following the young miko to watch as she stripped and redressed in her horrifyingly clingy 'swimsuit'. For one dizzying moment he'd half convinced himself he could lurk in the shadows spying, undetected by the miko's senses, and freely give in to his less noble instincts. It was sheer folly, and he had to restrain himself from smacking his own forehead in frustration.

This was getting out of control. His whole life had begun to deteriorate that night at the well. All his years of strict training and self repression were unraveling. Sesshoumaru felt bewildered and upset. And when he felt bewildered and upset, things died.

Sesshoumaru seriously contemplated simplifying his life by killing Kagome. It would be relatively easy, if he caught her by surprise. No more miko, no more annoyance or uncertainty, no more pesky inner demon making demands it hadn't any right to make. Life would return to normal and things would go on as they always had.

Sesshoumaru hesitated, though. He told himself he wouldn't be able to get the miko away from Rin's watchful eyes. He knew he'd never hear the end of it if he slaughtered Kagome in front of the young girl. She'd sulk and pout and glare at him. Plus, it would set him back on his plan to reintroduce her to human society. That was the only reason he restrained himself. It had nothing to do with the personal interest he was feeling for the miko.

With that decision made, the demon lord turned abruptly, reminding himself not to leave in haste lest it look like he was running away, and took to the skies. He really, really hoped there were some lower youkai running around begging for slaughter. They would definitely find it today.

Sesshoumaru told himself he was sparing Kagome's life, but he wouldn't have been able to go through with it even if he hadn't had Rin as an excuse. No, that branch on the tree of time was long past. There was no branch in his future that would lead to the miko's death at his hand. Sesshoumaru was who he was due to the choices he'd made, and he was no longer truly capable of murdering the girl just because she was a nuisance. Each step had been a small one, but every movement narrowed the possibilities until he was stuck in the present situation, destined to behave exactly as he was currently behaving.

Kagome could feel the TaiYoukai's eyes on her as she walked away before he took off into the wild. The feeling made her shiver. She hadn't thought he would follow her and Rin down to the river. She supposed she shouldn't have been surprised, considering Rin was his charge, but she'd thought they'd have some girl time, alone.

It would be hard to have carefree fun with the intense demon watching their every move. He set her nerves on edge. There was too much intensity in his presence. She felt expectant and wary, as if something big were coming her way, ready or not.

She couldn't deny she felt drawn to him. It was inexplicable, but she felt an affinity with the cold demon. It annoyed her to no end. They had no shared history, outside their brief meetings while the brothers fought and one night by an old well. The only thing he'd done right that night was choosing not to kill her. She should not be content in the company of a silent, dangerous demon who'd threatened to kill her several times and barely deigned to speak to her even when there was nothing wrong, like now.

It mystified her. She knew she loved InuYasha, whether it was stupid of her or not, whether they'd grown and matured differently, whether anything could ever come of it. But she felt something different with this cold youkai. She felt keyed up and supremely interested, but she also felt safe.

When she'd first met InuYasha, all she could think about was what she should say or do to impress him and get him to trust her. She tried being nice, she tried being sweet, she tried being saucy, she tried being independent, or dependent, or aloof, or coy, or anything that seemed like it would strike a chord with the hanyou. It never really worked. They were the best of friends but none of her actions caused him to let go of the dead miko from his past and move into the future with her. Kagome's efforts were worthless.

With Sesshoumaru, Kagome felt free. She didn't care what the demon thought of her because she figured she was fine as long as he didn't kill her. She didn't need or desire his good opinion so didn't censor many of her impulses, as long as they weren't likely to get her killed. She played with Rin the way she wanted to, laughed when she felt like it, was as relaxed and free as possible, and never had to worry about being offended. It was liberating and exhilarating.

Consequentially, when Sesshoumaru returned from taking his frustrations out on the locl wildlife, he was treated to a rarely seen sight, even amongst those who knew Kagome best. She was jumping around in the water happily, playing as a young woman without a care in the world would. She laughed eagerly and seemed thrilled to be where she was right at that moment, free and beautiful in the sun and water. It reached a note in the cold killer's heart that had never been struck before. It made him feel almost… tender.

He enjoyed seeing these humans acting so free and easy before him. He enjoyed forgetting for precious moments that he was a murdering Inu demon, responsible for decimation of villages and mass slaughtering of humans and demons alike. He could forget that he was alone through his life, supposedly because he preferred it that way, willing to sacrifice the dubious comforts of domesticity for power and control. He could forget that he hated what she stood for with her human limitations, and that she should be terrified of him if she valued her life.

It was the closest the demon had ever come to experiencing true peace and comfort, and he couldn't bear the thought of giving it up. This relaxation, sitting on a rock beside a river where two water sprites played gaily, had instantly become vital to his being, even though he'd existed for centuries without it.

Suddenly Sesshoumaru wondered what he'd done to fill his time before this. He killed things. He fought. He moved his muscles with a determined enjoyment. He protected his lands and his ward, and lazily went after his brother's sword. But where was his mind during the slow hours? Where did his consciousness go when there were no pressing matters to attend? He had a good idea where they would head now that he'd had this afternoon.

For a warrior like Sesshoumaru, these revelations were devastation incarnate. It should be impossible to be made to survive such upheaval and change over such a short period of time. It should be illegal to make a youkai set in his ways suddenly come face to face with such damaging shifts in perspective. And yet, the universe seemed to have no real qualms with putting him in this situation. It didn't have the mercy to drip these things on him slowly over the course of a hundred years or so. No, it was all of a sudden, all at once.

Sesshoumaru had a sudden thought. Was this just Fate's way of attempting to trick him into joining the fight with InuYasha? Was this just Fate's sick plan to ensure that the miko would escape the battle unscathed? He knew that, if aware of the upcoming confrontation, Sesshoumaru would have joined in, even if just to get his own piece of the evil hanyou's hide. He had his own scores to settle. But did Fate just want to make sure he'd be there from the beginning, acting as insurance for the miko's life? Were his feelings being manipulated by outside forces?

Sesshoumaru would not be a tool for anything, omnipotent or not. He determined his own fate. He walked his own path, and he would not be set up for such mockery and disrespect. He would not be tricked into anything he didn't want to do willingly. This he vowed to himself, clenching his fist tightly.

He settled back onto the rock, content that he'd sorted that out to his satisfaction. And he could be forgiven his ridiculous notions of control because relatively speaking; he was still a young, naïve youkai.

But, as before, Sesshoumaru did not know how Fate worked. He didn't realize that by staying where he was, continuing to watch the child and Miko playing in the water, he was solidifying his own dreaded future. Following the girl in the first place had made it almost impossible for him to resist watching. Watching made it highly unlikely for him to leave at any point.

Sticking around led to what came next.

Rin and Kagome were splashing each other violently, laughing as they each gulped and spluttered around a face full of water. It was hard to call a winner- both had seemingly endless supplies of energy, and neither was willing to back down from such an entertaining challenge.

Kagome lunged towards Rin, launching herself into close quarters. She began an offensive attack in earnest, splashing quickly with short strokes to drench Rin. The girl, not quite understanding the technique, was still trying to use forceful, big splashes. They were so slow and took up so much energy that it was soon apparent Kagome had the edge.

Rin sensed defeat hovering on the horizon and started inching towards shore, near the rock where Sesshoumaru sat, trying to beat a subtle retreat onto dry land.

Kagome caught her intention and cried, "Oh, no you don't!" Both girls launched into a full scale last ditch attack, heedless of where they were slinging water in their attempts to out do the other.

It wasn't until they were both laughing on shore, sitting back on their elbows and giggling weakly as they struggled to catch their breath, that they saw the consequences of their carelessness.

There, on what should have been a dry, safe boulder, sat one drenched and highly irritated demon lord.

Both girls saw him at the same time and let out identical 'Eeep!' of alarm. They knew they were in for it.

There was a silent pause, lasting one whole tense second, before both girls scrambled to stand with the instincts of prey about to come into close contact with an incredibly cheesed-off predator.

Kagome made it to her feet first and so was out of the way when Sesshoumaru sprang to life. With a playful and mock-enraged growl he sprang on Rin, pulling her up into his wet arms and slinging her over his shoulder. The girl gasped and laughed, trying desperately to free herself, but it was obviously no use. She was no match for the demon lord's strength, and was headed towards her doom.

Her struggles doubled as she saw that she was about to be dumped unceremoniously back into the river as payment for her crimes. She giggled, pled, and yelled, trying to avoid her watery fate. Nothing would appease the youkai, however, and in she went.

Rin landed on the water's surface with a great splash, immediately plunging through to the water's depths. She came up a moment later, spluttering and laughing, and caught Kagome trying to slink away unpunished.

"Oh, no, Kagome-chan!" she yelled, causing the demon's head to turn in her direction. "You have to get tossed, too! It's only fair!"

"Tattle-tale," Kagome shouted, sticking out her tongue at the water logged child, until she saw that Sesshoumaru seemed to agree with the girl.

Kagome let out an undignified squeak as the dripping dog demon began to stalk her slowly. She couldn't keep a grin off her face as she saw the look of pure playfulness in Sesshoumaru's normally distant eyes. It was thrilling and exciting, making him seem much more approachable even as it warned her that she was definitely in for it. She didn't dare turn her back on him, knowing he could pounce on her before she'd make it two steps away.

She inched back step by step, hands warding him off ineffectively. She tried bargaining with him, hoping to avoid a swift dunking.

"Ses.. Sesshoumaru," she stuttered nervously, "You just stay over there. Don't try to manhandle me like that, it was an accident!"

He advanced on her slowly, matching each of her steps with one of his own.

"Do you think you could stop me?" he asked with a predatory smirk, making the hairs on her arms and neck stand up. He was in full hunting mode, and she knew exactly who his prey was. She'd have better luck bargaining with a mountain lion.

"N.. no," she said again, glancing around for any hope of escape, "but you should stop right where you are! Getting you wet was just a mistake!"

"Yes, it was," he agreed, still maneuvering her where he wanted with every deliberate step, "but getting you wet will be done entirely on purpose."

He turned a little, steering her where he wanted her to go once more, until she realized her back was now to the water. She was trapped.

Sesshoumaru smirked in triumph as he slowly began to close the distance between them. His body was tense with his impending victory, his internal demon reveling in this teasing pursuit. He'd given in to his primal chase instincts and found himself enjoying it immensely. He liked stalking this miko.

With a final lunge that startled Kagome into jumping and yelping, Sesshoumaru leapt forward and caught the miko, swinging her fully over his arm. He shifted her until her stomach rested over the center of his right shoulder, making her struggles ineffective. His hand splayed across the back of her thighs and he tried not to notice how firm and soft they were. Her swimsuit left plenty of flesh available for his touch. He jostled her lightly when her legs thrashed wildly, delighting in the 'Umph!' of frustration she made when she realized she wasn't getting anywhere.

He stomped slowly to the water's edge with his wiggling burden, chuckling when he heard her protests as the river came into her view.

"Put me down this instant!" she demanded, breathless from giggling and fighting.

"As you wish," he said blandly, tossing her into the water without another word.

Kagome resurfaced, spluttering in mock indignation, glaring at the smug youkai on the shore. Rin swam over to her and put her arms around the girl's neck, too tired from laughing to continue treading water.

With a sly look to Sesshoumaru, Kagome turned to Rin and put their heads together. Sesshoumaru's demon instinct was stumped, but his masculine intuition kicked in right away. It was telling him that bad things happened when two affronted females collaborated against one hapless male. His advanced hearing was unable to pick up Kagome's words, masked as they were by Rin's piercing giggles. Purely male instinct told him to run. He stomped that down, telling himself that nothing two puny humans could do would ever hurt him.

Obviously, the poor male had a lot to learn about females.

Sure enough, Rin and Kagome soon put their plan into action, causing Sesshoumaru to experience a wholly unfamiliar level of paranoia. Their false airs of innocence almost curdled his insides with dread.

'Am I sure I don't want to kill them?' he wondered, as he watched the two girls turn away, pretending to be done with him. He didn't trust them half as far as he could throw them.

Minutes passed with nothing unusual happening. The girls were behaving as though nothing had occurred and as if they hadn't been dumped into a river by a vengeful demon lord. Sesshoumaru figured they'd finally seen sense and realized there was no point in trying for retaliation.

He was lulled back in to a false sense of calm as he sat back on the sunny rock, absorbing the warm rays as the two girls played. He even dared to close his eyes for a minute, dozing lightly.

Soon, though, he realized that it was quiet. A little too quiet.

He peeked around him to realize that he couldn't see Kagome or Rin anywhere. He sat up with a start, looking and sniffing around for any sight of the two girls. He couldn't sense them above land. Could they be in trouble under water?

He leaned over the side of the rock, peering over the ledge down into the water below, unbalancing himself slightly in the process. He was totally caught unprepared when two sets of hands shot out of the water, latching onto his haori and pulling him down into the water.

Sesshoumaru surfaced from the water, growling lightly. His arm was already wrapped around the laughing miko and delighted child he'd caught under water, trapping them to his body. He hauled them up alongside himself and dragged them to shore.

"That is enough water for you two," he rumbled low in his throat, shooting them a mockingly severe glance that only made them giggle harder. "You do not deserve any more play time today."

Kagome and Rin were thrilled with their success. It had taken a lot of patience to catch the demon off guard, and luckily the timing had been good. They couldn't hold their breath forever. It was perfect, and they shot each other smug grins.

Sesshoumaru dumped them both unceremoniously onto the ground at the base of a tree. With a wicked glance in their direction he shook himself free of excess water, droplets splattering them from head to toe. For a moment he resembled the dog he sometimes turned into. The girls threw up their hands and protested mightily; secretly pleased he continued their game.

He then sat down next to Rin without comment and leaned against the tree's trunk, turning his nose up and away from the two human girls as if completely uninterested in anything they were doing. With a studied air he began the long process of completely ignoring them.

Rin was having none of it. She yawned and stretched, worn out by all her water activity. With a small sigh she climbed into the TaiYoukai's lap as she always had, resting her head on his chest and closing her eyes.

The youkai, familiar with the scenario, merely brushed the girl's damp hair to one side and continued to look off into the distance. He could still smell the distinctive scent of the miko sitting a little ways away.

Kagome saw that Rin's hair was still damp. She didn't want the young girl to catch cold and thought it should be off her neck. She stood up and moved over to her pack, removing a couple of towels. With practiced movements she began to dry her own hair, before moving forward to Rin.

She kneeled nearer to Sesshoumaru's side, intent upon getting close to the human girl in his lap. She looked into the demon's eyes as they turned to meet her gaze, hesitant and asking for permission to be so close.

His gaze was still softer than it had ever been, and when he saw the towel she held in her hands he nodded his head once in agreement.

Kagome moved until she was right behind Rin's head and gently began to squeeze the excess water from the dozing girl's hair. She was careful not to pull too hard or jostle the girl, intent upon letting her continue to rest. When her hair was as dry as it could get, Kagome motioned for Sesshoumaru to lift the sleeping girl away from his chest. She then moved the damp towel beneath the child for a barrier between the youkai's damp top and her head.

When that was done she leaned against the tree trunk herself, content with her situation. Her left side was only inches from Sesshoumaru's side, absorbing some of the heat he so readily provided. She was just inches from the back of Rin's head. She lazily reached across and pulled Rin's hair towards her once more, beginning to braid the damp strands together.

She turned her eyes from her mindless job to find Sesshoumaru's amber gaze once more meeting her own.

The jolt she felt this time was gentler, but much more powerful. It was insistent and tingly, but was no longer tinged with fearful excitement. It was simply a beautiful, pure feeling.

This time the sensation confused her a bit less. She didn't feel as frustrated with herself or her situation. When she lowered her eyes at last, unable to maintain such an intimate connection for any real length of time, she felt the day's activities catch up with her. She was worn out, sleepy, and fully prepared to take a short rest.

For the moment she was content to close her eyes, leaning back against the tree trunk as the drone of insects and the sun's gentle rays lulled her into a peaceful sleep.

She never noticed that her head was drifting slowly, slowly towards the demon lord's shoulder, or that said demon watched the progression with deep interest.

* * *

A/N: Couple quick points: I always respond to reviews when they're signed. Unsigned reviews have been lovely, and I feel regret that I can't respond to them properly. Leave your email address in the text and I'll drop you a quick line and answer any questions.

I have loved the reviews that include favorite parts. They are amazing. I also love all the support you've given. You have no idea.

We're at 4,000 hits and only about half way done with the story. Any ideas for what to do in celebration if we hit 10,000 hits in the next couple of chapters?


	7. Chapter 7

Mirrored Future

By Amazonian21

Recap: _For the moment she was content to close her eyes, leaning back against the tree trunk as the drone of insects and the sun's gentle rays lulled her into a peaceful sleep._

_She never noticed that her head was drifting slowly, slowly towards the demon lord's shoulder, or that said demon watched the progression with deep interest._

* * *

Chapter 7

'This has gone too far,' the great TaiYoukai thought to himself as Kagome's head came closer and closer to resting on his shoulder. 'I don't want this, I don't want this, I don't want this,' he thought, the words a frantic ferret running through his mind.

This woman did not fear him at all. She was comfortable in his presence, far too comfortable. Not that the blame really lay on her shoulders. He had done nothing to discourage any feelings of comradery from developing. Hell, he'd practically given her a friendship bracelet the moment he threw her in the river. Everything after that was just water under the bridge.

He should have stayed away. Part of him knew he couldn't have, but he couldn't help half wishing it anyway.

Kagome's head finally seemed to reach a decision. Sesshoumaru tensed as if expecting a great pain as first the miko's hair came into contact with his haori. It was soon followed by her smooth brow, as she settled in firmly, carelessly using him as a pillow.

This was wrong. Sesshoumaru felt as if he hadn't resurfaced after being dragged down into the river. He felt like he was drowning. A human girl had reduced him to a nervous wreck. How had this happened?

He looked down to the child in his lap. She was sleeping contentedly, the fingers of one hand wrapped in his hair. She had a small smile on her lips and no worries marring her angelic little face. Looking at her, Sesshoumaru got an idea of when things had started to go wrong. It might have had something to do with this particular character flaw sitting so trustingly against his chest, uncaring that the chest she was so comfortable sleeping against could expand to become part of a 40 foot dog demon with poisonous claws and acid breath.

He probably shouldn't have saved her those few years ago. He wouldn't have, either, if he hadn't had the choice taken from him. After InuYasha almost managed to defeat him using the Wind-Scar, this little girl had risked her life to 'help him'. She'd fearlessly approached a wounded youkai lord, bearing food and water, even though he'd repeatedly tried to turn her away. Yes, in battle Tensaiga had pulled him from defeat, but this girl had innocently stayed by his side, trying to do what she could to heal him whether he'd needed it or not. That sort of kindness and devotion was an inu demon's Achilles heel. Their baser dog natures recognize and respond to loyalty and protectiveness, whether their more ruthless demon natures respected it or not.

If it had been up to Sesshoumaru's more querulous nature, he would have left the girl's wolf ravaged body to be found and buried by the villagers. Or, in remembrance of her pointless service, he may have buried her himself. He certainly wouldn't have wasted time or emotion on such an ephemeral, weak, and pointless creature.

Unfortunately, his inu demon hadn't allowed it. In the deepest, most cut off portions of his soul, Sesshoumaru was attached to the little girl. He admired her sweetness and her ability to love unreservedly. He'd never received such care and affection in his life. That alone was enough for him to allow her to remain at his side. He cared for her, and wanted to protect her.

It seemed that the words of his father echoed through his head as Tensaiga sprang to life, responding to his subconscious desire to return the child's soul to her body.

'What do you care for? What do you protect?' InuTaisho's voice, disconnected and disembodied as it whispered through his mind, hadn't been seeking an answer from his stoic and unfeeling son. It already knew. Tensaiga had no power without being wielded by one with a caring heart.

That day Sesshoumaru had gotten a chink in his emotional armor, and now more cracks were starting to worm their way through.

Sesshoumaru quirked his eyebrow in self mockery. It's never easy to discover something so weakening about yourself. He cared for the little girl in his lap, and it had proven to be a liability. Naraku had already discovered her to be a weakness. No doubt there were several of his subjects who thought him less intimidating for the girl's presence, tagging along behind him trailing flowers in his wake.

And now this miko. Yes he had wanted her to know Rin so that someday, if necessary, he could turn the young girl over to her care. He had sought her out on purpose this day to speak of Rin's future.

That did not mean he should have... played... with the girls.

The youkai shuddered delicately at the thought. He couldn't remember the last time he'd acted so frivolously. Maybe he had when he was a child, but he honestly couldn't remember. Even Sesshoumaru was half convinced he'd been born fully grown, completely serious and determined to be the best at everything. When you're so ambitious and driven there's little room for other emotions.

Sesshoumaru shook his head minutely to clear away all these thoughts. That was the problem with being such a quiet and solitary demon. When you weren't killing something or busying yourself with physical exertion, there was way too much time for introspection.

He relaxed for a moment, willfully making his mind and body reach a peaceful state of meditative blankness. If his thoughts were being unproductive and only left his mind in a state of disarray it was time to let them all go.

His nose, however, was still working just fine. Above the musky and feminine scent of the miko at his side he could smell his brother and that damned wolf quickly approaching. He tensed up, unconsciously assuming a protective stance for the two females in his company. Such a reaction on Rin's behalf made sense. After all, it was Kouga's wolves who had ended her life so violently those years before. Sesshoumaru had tolerated the wolf's annoying presence earlier because he hadn't upset Rin. The girl didn't seem to make the connection between the wolf demon and the wolf animals who'd hurt her. It was still hard to restrain himself from exacting vengeance on behalf of his ward, but such actions wouldn't be appropriate. Kouga was a wolf prince and wasn't directly responsible for the attack. It was necessary to leave things as they were, for now.

Kagome, on the other hand... Why did he suddenly feel the need to snatch the girl up in his good arm and whisk her away from the two possessive male demons? They were her rightful suitors. He had no claim on her, and had no right to stop the males from fighting over her, wooing her, mating her...

That thought wrenched a low, angry growl from his throat before he could stop it. His clawed hand flexed angrily, digging his nails deep into his palm. The pain was a wake up call; he needed to control himself before his inner demon, indulged far too much today as it was, caused some big problems for him.

Kagome was startled awake by both the growl and sensing Kouga's approaching shards. Her head came up first to look in the direction the hanyou and wolf were approaching from before slowly turning to regard the on-edge demon at her side.

She looked sheepishly to his shoulder, realizing she'd been abusing his sacred personage while she slept.

"Heh heh," she smiled nervously, looking up at his impassive face apologetically, "Sorry about that." She hoped he wouldn't hold it against her. She was also very, very grateful she hadn't drooled.

Sesshoumaru simply looked away from her apology, nose in the air, as if to say, 'As if this Sesshoumaru would deign to notice such unimportant things.'

Kagome shook her head ruefully and stood up. She didn't need either InuYasha or Kouga to see her sleeping on Sesshoumaru. It had been entirely innocent and accidental, but those two were not the most reasonable creatures when it came to who she spent time with.

She would gather her clothes and put them over her now dry suit. No point in being so undressed when the boys got here. Such a state of disarray would only fuel their indignation.

'Not that either of them had any right for their anger,' Kagome thought crossly. 'Neither of those bozos ever do anything with me. They just use me for an excuse to trade punches. Hopefully they've gotten it out of their systems all afternoon.'

Sesshoumaru, on the other hand, was interested to see what would happen when the stupid wolf and his irritating half brother realizes the miko was covered in his scent. This should prove vastly entertaining. Outwardly he continued to appear distant and removed, but inwardly he was watching the upcoming scene with interest. If InuYasha made her mad enough, maybe Kagome would 'sit' his brother in front of him again.

Kagome had no sooner finished pulling on her pants and shirt when both demons burst onto the scene. They were practically scrambling over each other, both trying to be the ones to reach her first. Kouga moved with an air of confidence and dismissal, acting as if the hanyou at his side was nothing more than an annoying puppy cavorting around his heels. He was on the way to see his woman, and didn't have much time to spare for pestering animals.

InuYasha, on the other hand, was fuming. He sulked and glowered like a moody teenager, still muttering curses and threats as he came up to Kagome.

"Kagome," he demanded, "tell this asshole you'd never..." Whatever he was about to say, however, died on his lips as he took a deep whiff of the harassed looking girl in front of him.

"What the hell's going on!" he yelled, looking from the miko to the aloof and outwardly cold demon lord in front of him. Sesshoumaru had moved a slightly protesting Rin from his lap when he first heard the hanyou's diatribe and was now standing impassively to one side, feigning indifference to his surroundings. However, when these words were shouted he turned, fixing his half brother with a fierce, cold stare.

"What are you talking about, InuYasha?" Kagome asked, rolling her eyes and placing her hands on her hips. She already looked put-out, and he'd only been here a couple of seconds.

"What do you mean, 'what am I talking about?'" he yelled again, waving his arms about a bit. "His scent's all over you! What did you do to her, you bastard?" he growled, moving towards Sesshoumaru threateningly. The TaiYoukai merely growled lowly in return, warning the young fool to keep his distance.

Kouga, hearing InuYasha's accusations, leaned in to sniff Kagome as well. His hackles rose in anger and he too turned to the youkai lord, intent upon getting some answers.

"Why did you touch my woman, Lord Sesshoumaru?" he demanded, upset but still wary of his opponent. He wanted answers, but only the suicidal started fights with the TaiYoukai. Kouga knew the demon lord barely tolerated his presence on the best of days and didn't want to risk getting him pissed off. He just wanted answers.

"This Sesshoumaru has no time to waste on lowly life forms such as yourselves," he said with all the scorn he could muster. "This Sesshoumaru will not lower himself to answering the demands of such weak demons, especially as concerning what I do or do not do with mikos, now or in the future," he said, ending with a minute smirk that only the two outraged males picked up on.

This caused Kouga and InuYasha both to tense up in furious anger, aware that Sesshoumaru had almost declared an interest in their Kagome.

The miko in question, however, was oblivious to all of the conversation's more demon undertones. She'd never been a territorial and overly sexed male. She'd never felt the urge to mark a tree with urine so that everyone else would know she'd walked by. She'd never worried about the size of her 'equipment' or about hitting people so they wouldn't disrespect her. She'd never wasted hours talking about weapons and the best way to 'kill something.'

Poor, inexperienced girl. If she'd ever been a teenaged boy she would have known that between the three demons, she was in for one big headache.

Luckily, however, Sango and Miroku showed up before all hell could break loose. They'd been looking for the group for a while, after returning from a nearby village. There had been an important development and it concerned all present.

"Kagome!" Sango yelled, an excited young kitsune jumping up and down on her shoulder, "We just discovered something you should hear about!"

"Yeah!" chimed in Shippou, happy to be a part of such important information.

"We think we just got one of the last shards," Miroku said, coming to stand by Sango as she relayed their story.

"We were just walking through the town's market, looking at their little trinkets and supplies," Sango said, ignoring the irritated demons surrounding her. They weren't going to have their fights interrupted just to hear girls talk about shopping. Sango continued in spite of their annoyance.

"We came to this one stall that had all sorts of jewelry and found this," she explained, reaching into her pocket to pull out a small jagged pendant, hanging by a corded chain. She held the necklace out to Kagome, who took it and examined the shard.

"It's a jewel shard!" she exclaimed, looking it over. "But it's red, not pink or black. What does that mean?" she wondered, examining it from all sides.

"We think it means that this is the last of the unclaimed shards," Miroku said, resting against his staff.

"What about Kouga's shards?" Kagome asked, looking over to the wolf demon in question. The conversation had caused both hanyou and wolf to forget their quarrel in favor of listening to what the humans had to say.

"We think that because you're in contact with them on a regular basis, and because they aren't tainted, the jewel considers them already claimed," the monk continued to explain, trying to sound sage and wise.

"I guess so," Kagome said doubtfully. "I guess this one could be red as a way to signal us. If that's the case, and if we have really found the last of the pieces, we need to reclaim the shards in Kouga's legs and join them to the rest of the jewel. Then we go after Naraku and end it all." She was getting a little excited, but still was concerned about asking the wolf demon to give up his shards. She knew he relished the added speed and power they gave him.

She turned to him with a question in her eyes. The wolf demon saw her expression and gulped. He had known this day would come but had foolishly hoped things wouldn't end this way. He wanted to keep his power boosters, but wanted to see Naraku defeated even more. This was going to be a tough decision for him to make, in spite of all his convictions.

Luckily, InuYasha said the best thing he possibly could have. Sensing Kouga's hesitation, he turned to taunt the indecisive youkai.

"What's the matter, wimpy wolf, afraid you won't be able to defeat me without your precious shards?" he taunted, delighting in the new shade of purple covering the enraged wolf's face.

"I wouldn't be afraid to fight you blind, deaf, and armless, you overgrown piece of dog shit!" the wolf yelled, making his final decision. Without pause he snaked a clawed hand down to the back of his right calf. With a slight tremble in his hand, he turned and met Kagome's eyes as he slashed his own calf, releasing the jewel into his palm.

Kagome gasped as the wolf's face whitened in pain, but he didn't cry out. He simply reached around to his other calf and repeated the motion, wincing slightly from the searing pain of his self inflicted wounds.

With both legs injured, Kouga started to stagger forward. Kagome let out a soft cry of worry and rushed forward to catch the struggling demon. She allowed him to prop himself up on her shoulder, taking a moment to regain his strength.

"Don't worry, woman," he said, grunting and grinding his teeth against the pain, "It's just two scratches. They'll heal up. Just give me a moment."

Kagome nodded in response, allowing the wolf to drape both arms around her until one of them was across her breasts. She missed the smug look the wolf shot the hanyou, even through his pain, and also missed the way InuYasha looked ready to kill the demon, and how Sesshoumaru just rolled his eyes privately at the whole scene in front of him.

The only thing he was concerned about was when he could kill Naraku.

'And how many fingers he should rip off that damned wolf's hands to make sure he never handled his miko like that again,' his inner demon supplied maliciously, but he tamped it down and ignored it. Now was not the time for such petty jealousies.

Finally the wolf let Kagome go, making a show of standing up tenderly, slowly removing his arm from her body, dragging it across her breast on 'accident'. Both InuYasha and Sesshoumaru growled in response, causing Kouga to be a little more quick about pulling away.

InuYasha raised a suspicious and questioning glance to Sesshoumaru, but the TaiYoukai was already looking away, curiously fascinated by nearby treetops.

Kouga dropped the two shards into Kagome's out stretched palms. The girl closed her fist around them and concentrated, putting her purified energies into the pieces of jewel. A pink light flared around her fisted hand before she opened it once more, revealing two pink slivers.

"I guess I should try to put my half together," she said thoughtfully. "I am not sure why, but it feels like the right thing to do."

"Yes, I think you're right," Miroku agreed. "If you have about half the shard and Naraku has the other half, you can be sure he's joined his pieces together. I think the jewel's essentially split nature would make having a whole half important. It would be essential to have the pure pieces united in order for them to withstand the taint of the half in Naraku's possession."

"That feels right," Kagome said, pulling her shard pieces from the necklace around her neck. The whole group of people watched with great interest as she dumped the pieces into the palm of her hand. Then, she carefully closed her fist and concentrated.

Nothing happened.

"I don't know what to do," she said, looking helplessly around the group.

"Try closing your eyes again, Kagome," Miroku instructed, thinking deeply. "Now, tap into the same energy you use to purify shards." When Kagome nodded, he continued, "Okay, now envision the jewel whole, pure, and completely untainted, resting in your hand." When Kagome's brow crinkled in concentration, Miroku instructed, "Now push that energy towards the jewel, keeping the image of it whole in your mind, and tell the power what you want it to do."

It seemed to be working. Kagome's hand glowed a bright pink, light seeping out in bright rays from her clenched fist, and illuminating the face of everyone present.

At last the light died down, leaving Kagome to open her eyes and smiled happily in success.

"It worked!" she cheered, opening her hand to reveal an unblemished stone on the palm of her hand. It glowed cheerily with a bright pink hue, perfectly beautiful in its shine an clarity.

"Too bad that doesn't work on diamonds," Miroku said thoughtfully.

Kagome just laughed.

"Well, now that that's over with, I feel we should return to Kaede's village," Miroku said, turning to include everyone in the conversation. "We have no way to find Naraku on our own. Every battle we've had was instigated by that dark hanyou. We seem to only find him when he wants to set a trap. A final meeting is necessary and unavoidable. It would be best to plan for the eventual meeting and recuperate before it takes place."

Sango agreed. "He's going to come looking for us soon. For all we know, his half of the jewel might be signaling to him the same way ours did. He's going to get impatient and greedy for a final fight. He might as well find us on our own turf."

There was a round of tentative agreement amongst the shard hunters. Kagome looked to InuYasha as she thought it over. He didn't seem about to raise any objection. She was relieved he wasn't going to insist on tracking down the elusive hanyou. Naraku would be found when he wanted to be found, and meanwhile the small band might as well be waiting in relative comfort. It did seem like the best plan.

"Alright," she said to her friends, "should we get going first thing in the morning?"

"I can't come with you yet, but I wanna fight at the last battle," Kouga said, turning to Kagome. "I need to go get my wolf pack. They'd be a big help facing that bastard, and a lot of them would love to speak to that bitch Kagura, too."

"That's a good idea, Kouga-kun," Kagome said, smiling at the recuperated wolf, "But we don't know exactly when the battle will happen. You could miss it entirely, or you could come and have to wait around for months."

"I'll leave now and come back immediately," Kouga said, sweeping the girl into his arms. "I won't miss the battle. And if I have to hang around, at least it will give me more time with my future mate," he said, trying to cuddle Kagome under his chin.

"Kouga, let me go please," Kagome said, pushing against his chest. "I told you, I'm not your future mate." She pushed a little harder, until she saw the far off look on his face. It was the look he always got when everything she said would automatically translate into, "Kouga, take me! I'm yours, as soon as you knock the crap out of InuYasha!"

The hanyou in question was currently frothing at the mouth, ready to go into a jealous rage.

"Didn't you hear her, you damn wolf! She said to get your stinking hands off her!" He yelled, ready to clobber the wolf in question.

Kagome sighed in exasperation and looked to Sango for help. The demon slayer took pity on the girl and reached in to grab a hold of her. She used a bit of her considerable muscle power to pull Kagome away from the clingy wolf, dragging her to her side.

"Kagome and I need to go make camp. We need someone to gather fire wood and someone to hunt us some meat, please," she said, thinking of something that could keep the two immature demons busy.

"Keh, I'll get the meat," InuYasha said, shooting a dirty look to the wolf demon. "He couldn't catch an injured turtle," he jeered. "Let wolf boy gather some sticks."

"How will a slow thing like you catch anything, dog turd?" Kouga replied tauntingly. "I may not have my shards, but I could still run circles around you."

"Ha! Prove it, you mangy mutt!" InuYasha yelled, running off into the forest to find some hapless animal to prove his worth with.

With that, Kouga took off in the opposite direction, determined to find the best prey to prove once and for all that he'd be the best one to provide for Kagome's needs.

When they were gone, the group breathed a collective sigh of relief. Sango shook her head over their antics. Those two were always in an eternal pissing contest.

"How much meat do you think they'll bring in this time?" Kagome asked. It was a running wager the three humans had, familiar with the mass carnage that would happen on the nights that Kouga and InuYasha both hunted to outdo each other.

"I'm betting 40 pounds," Miroku guessed. "A deer a piece and a petting zoo's worth of smaller things."

"Are you counting that as dressed or undressed meat?" Sango asked, pulling out a small pad of paper to record Miroku's guess.

"Dressed, of course," Miroku said. "Anything else is amateurish."

"Kagome?" Sango asked, ready for her guess.

"Umm, I think they'll both bring in less meat than last time. They've had a whole afternoon to wear themselves out and last time they went hunting right away," she said, recalling the most recent event.

"So how much?" Sango repeated.

"20 pounds, mixed meat," the girl said, after some thought.

"I'll go with only one smallish deer each, then," Sango decided. "So about 30 pounds dressed, between the two of them."

"Whatever way, we're going to have to make jerky again," Kagome said in dismay. It took such a long time to make the dried meat.

"We'll take the leftovers with us to Kedea's and she'll help us," Sango assured the girl.

"Alright, then, let's get camp ready," Kagome said, gathering all her things together. "Miroku, if you don't mind, would you get the firewood? You know those guys won't. It wouldn't be manly enough for them."

"Don't I always, Kagome-chan?" he asked, laughing. "I want a warm fire tonight. Besides, how else will we cook the prey of our mighty warriors?"

They all sniggered at the thought.

Sango and Miroku turned and began to head back towards where the group had slept the night before, leaving Kagome to turn her attentions back to the youkai who'd stood so silently behind her. He hadn't said anything in such a long time that she'd almost been able to forget his presence. Rin, she noticed, had wandered off a long time ago, no doubt to pick flowers. She had probably been bored with the adults' unending conversation.

"Will you be traveling with us?" she asked the youkai, feeling suddenly shy and awkward. She didn't know quite how to talk to this being in front of her. It was so much easier to deal with the cold demon when Rin was there as a buffer. Without the young girl around, the demon looked more formidable, less familiar and less approachable.

"I will not travel with you," Sesshoumaru said, with blunt directness. "I will return Rin to my holdings. She will not be put in Naraku's way to be used against me, or be in the path of unnecessary danger" he said, with a deep finality.

Kagome smiled a small smile and regarded the impassive demon in front of her. He tried to act so unaffected, but it was obvious how much he cared for the little girl.

"It would work, wouldn't it?" she asked him. Seeing his look of deliberate bored confusion she clarified, "Using Rin against you, I mean. It would worry you."

"The outcome would be irrelevant," the youkai said, attempting to impress his indifference upon the young miko. "But the attempt itself would be offensive and most severely punished."

"Oh, sure. Yeah," she said, teasing the youkai gently. "I'm sure Rin's safety would never enter your mind, and I'm sure you wouldn't be concerned for her well being, just upset that someone would dare cross you," she said, laughing when the youkai sniffed and turned up his nose, preparing to dismiss her.

"I'm glad you understand," he said cooly, choosing to ignore the small giggles coming from the miko. They were most undignified.

"When will you leave?" she asked, wondering why she suddenly hated the thought of seeing him go. She realized she wanted him nearby. No, not him. Rin. She wanted Rin nearby. It was fun to spend her free time playing with the little human girl.

"Tomorrow. Tonight we camp with my retainer and mount," he said, turning back to look at her fully, now that her mirth was under control.

"Oh, okay," Kagome said, suddenly feeling like an awkward school girl again. She had no idea how to end this conversation. She had spent such a relaxed and fun afternoon with the demon that the return of stiff formality was hard to take.

She decided to take a leaf from the TaiYoukai's book and just turn to walk off. It would stop her from saying anything else to humiliate herself, at least.

As she turned to walk away, a clawed hand reached out to grab her shoulder, stilling her attempt to leave. She was turned around by that same hand, to come face-to-face with a demon lord who looked just as surprised as she must have. He was looking down at his arm as if never seeing it before, appalled at its bad behavior.

He looked even more confused as that same arm pulled her in close to his body, until her head rested against his chest. Then, that traitorous arm wrapped around her back, pulling her in for what could only be called a hug.

Sesshoumaru's warm breath caressed her ear as his voice said from above her head, "Be safe."

There was a brief tightening of the double-crossing arm and then coldness hit her front. The demon had released her, running off as if to run away from the consequences of his sneaky arm's unauthorized actions.

Kagome was left to wander back to the camp, flabbergasted and more than a little light headed.

She told herself she was only so disoriented because he must have squeezed all the oxygen from her lungs. It had nothing to do with the tingling warmth in her stomach, or the way she had felt so comfortable and safe in his embrace that she'd never wanted to leave.

It had absolutely nothing to do with how good he smelled, or how she felt like the most important thing in the whole world when he was looking at her. It certainly had nothing to do with wanting to be in his arms again, soon, hopefully to stay. Thoughts like that would be crazy, so obviously they had nothing to do with her current state of being.

No, it had nothing to do with it at all.

* * *

A/N: Spoiled. You all are so spoiled. I told you that would happen. I update once a day and then miss two days and SHAME on some of your PMs.

Well, I hope you're satisfied.

Oh, and we're at 5,000 hits. Halfway there. Can anyone draw? I can't. It would be cool to do something arty for 10,000. If I do it we'll have a stick figure Sesshoumaru.


	8. Chapter 8

Mirrored Future

By Amazonian21

Recap: _She told herself she was only so disoriented because he must have squeezed all the oxygen from her lungs. It had nothing to do with the tingling warmth in her stomach, or the way she had felt so comfortable and safe in his embrace that she'd never wanted to leave.  
_

_It had absolutely nothing to do with how good he smelled, or how she felt like the most important thing in the whole world when he was looking at her. It certainly had nothing to do with wanting to be in his arms again, soon, hopefully to stay. Thoughts like that would be crazy, so obviously they had nothing to do with her current state of being.  
_

_No, it had nothing to do with it at all._

* * *

Chapter 8

Kagome walked back to the camp in a slight daze. The warm sun beat down on her head warming her and getting her completely dry. There was no breeze present, no cool air to hit damp skin, so there was no reason for the goose bumps running up and down her arms.

No reason except the warm hug from a cold demon.

'It was just his way of probing me for weakness,' she tried to justify to herself, lamely. 'He was probably feeling for a good place to stick the knife…' even her inner monologue trailed off, completely unconvinced.

'What am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to think?' she wailed in her head, cursing the surprising turn of events that left her confused, happy, hopeful, giddy, and more than a little baffled. For a moment she mentally cursed the distant youkai who'd so suddenly invaded her life, mucking it up even more than it had been before he came around for the mirror.

'This is all the fault of that stupid piece of glass,' Kagome thought to herself sullenly. 'If I hadn't seen him kissing me it wouldn't have put these thoughts in my head. Then none of this would have happened.'

Kagome thought she was being petulant, but in reality she'd just gotten her first lesson in how Fate and Destiny really work through every choice made. It may have been a valuable lesson, but it was little comfort to her anyway. Knowing that each decision you make limits the possible outcomes in your future and sets you on a collision course with your destiny doesn't matter when you're wondering about the actions of a cold, murderous InuYoukai.

'Not that he was cold this afternoon when you were sleeping on him,' that pesky voice spoke up, taunting her now that she was too mentally distraught to keep a leash on it. 'His eyes and his shoulder were both pretty warm, heh heh.'

Kagome didn't have the reservations about physical displays that Sesshoumaru did and had no problems with slapping herself in the forehead, hard.

"I am going slowly mad," she said softly, with a deep conviction. "I shouldn't be talking to myself, shouldn't be arguing with smug inner voices, and shouldn't be overreacting to everything like I am. There's only one thing to do," she said, turning to yell for the one person who would listen to her and give her the advice she desperately needed, now that she was probably crazy.

"Sango!"

Sango heard Kagome yell and turned to put a hand of restraint on Miroku, who'd started to rush forward in order to offer protection. Years of friendship and shared confidences had taught the older girl that this wasn't a yell of fright or a plea for help; it was a wail of emotional distress. It was a feminine cry for pure, unadulterated girl talk.

"Don't worry, Houshi," she said, pulling on Miroku's arm to get his attention. He stopped and put his staff down, seeing that he didn't need to jump to his friend's defense.

"I've got this one," Sango continued, taking a deep breath to prepare herself for the upcoming estrogen marathon. Her instincts were telling her that this would be a big one, considering Kagome had dealt with InuYasha, Kouga, Sesshoumaru, and Rin all in one day, right after facing down a demon that had depleted much of her energy stores.

She reached over to Kagome's yellow back pack to arm herself with the most effective weapon she knew of.

Miroku's eyes widened when he saw what she held. He stepped back a bit, knowing that he lacked the skills and training required to wield such a tool.

"Whoa, Sango, you're taking out the chocolate?" he asked, backing slowly away in trepidation. "Do you think it's necessary?"

"Oh, yeah," Sango said, letting out a deep breath she hadn't realized she was holding. "I have a feeling this will be a grade A tsunami," she confided, judging by the strength and depth of her friend's wail.

"God speed," Miroku said, watching his beloved walk with proud determination towards the young woman who was walking towards them down the path. He was suddenly very, very glad that he was a male and only responsible for gathering firewood.

Kagome and Sango sat in the shade of a secluded tree, far from prying eyes and ears. Miroku had been left with strict instructions to warn off any intrusive hanyous or wolf demons that might have been curious. He hadn't needed the instructions, really. He was a good guy at heart. He would have warned the two demon males about the girls' desire for privacy no matter what. He wasn't cruel, and firmly believed in the bonds of brotherhood.

When the hanyou and wolf returned with their kills, he relayed Sango's message right away. After all these years, all it had taken to flatten InuYasha's ears to his head and to make Kouga's tan complexion blanche a little were two words, "Girl Talk." They hadn't felt the need to follow Kagome to show her their grisly kills. (Thirty pounds, after all. Sango was right and wouldn't have to wash dishes for a week.)

None of this mattered much to the two girls, however. Kagome wasn't crying or wailing or cursing her fate. She wasn't angry or bitter, and the two girls weren't swearing revenge on all male life everywhere. No, Kagome was just very, very confused.

And Sango really couldn't blame her. After eating a mouthful of chocolate to fortify herself, Kagome had spilled the whole story, leaving nothing out. She started with the night by the well, confessing that she'd been hiding the mirror and its prophetic powers. She told about each of the three visions she'd seen of the last battle, agreeing with Sango that no matter the emotional outcomes, all of them were very positive since Naraku was always defeated. She continued by going over all her thoughts and feelings after seeing the kiss in the last vision, leading up to the day near the lake. She described how embarrassed she'd felt to find her head on the youkai's shoulder and tenderness in his eyes, finally ending with a warm embrace from the last being she'd thought capable of it.

Sango had listened to the whole story, a perfectly captive audience. She let out the appropriate gasps and low whistles at all the right places, commiserating instantly with her friend and her predicament. She knew Kagome had been in love with InuYasha for a long time, and knew that these new developments would be distressing for her.

"So what are you thinking?" Kagome asked, noticing the dazed look on her friend's face.

"I don't know, Kagome," Sango answered honestly. "This is a lot to take in. I guess it really just matters what you're thinking," she said, turning to take in Kagome's expression. The younger girl was confused and perplexed, but seemed more baffled than genuinely upset. That was a good sign.

"I'm not really sure," Kagome began, pausing to shuffle through all the impulses racing around her body. "I mean, I think I love InuYasha, even if it's not the same as it used to be and even though he frustrates me more than he excites me, these days. I think Sesshoumaru is fascinating, strong, and exciting…" she trailed off, thinking some more.

"And he's really hot," Sango supplied helpfully. Kagome giggled and agreed readily.

"But none of that's the point, is it?" Kagome asked, beginning to sound a little melancholy again. "I mean, he's a super strong, human-hating demon who's always trying to kill the guy I'm supposed to be in love with. And he hugged me, sure, but so what? It's not like he said, 'Hey human, stick around and become the mate of the scariest guy to hit the streets this side of the feudal era'," she said, waving her hands around her head as she got worked up.

"What am I supposed to be thinking about that hug?" she wailed, plopping back against the tree trunk and putting her arm over her eyes dramatically. "I mean, how could he DO that to a girl?" she demanded, emotions jumping from dejection to anger in a heartbeat.

Luckily Sango had no trouble keeping up with the sudden shifts in subject and feeling. The miko's impressive emotional range was nothing new to the demon slayer.

"Kagome, relax," she began, pulling the girl's arm away from her face. "You don't have to think or do anything! It's not like you're expected to suddenly run after Sesshoumaru and start a relationship! The hug could have meant nothing, it could have meant everything," she said, waving off Kagome's moans of frustration. She knew the young girl wanted something more helpful than that, but Sango knew she was right so far.

"Listen," she continued, before she could be interrupted, "you can't change how Sesshoumaru may or may not be feeling, and can't predict what he's going to do in the meantime. You also can't change that you have a history with InuYasha that you have to come to terms with. All you can do is focus on the shards and Naraku and take care of yourself." She took heart when Kagome seemed to be listening, trying to calm her emotions. Her friend was still upset, but no longer looked ready to gnaw her own foot off.

"Kagome, just let things take care of themselves," she said, trying to sound soothing. "What happens will happen, and that's all there is to it. You just have to decide what you want so you'll know how to react when the time comes," Sango said, pleased with her sage advice.

Kagome, however, looked less than thrilled.

"That's easy for you to say," she grumbled, hating that Sango was right. She really didn't like the idea that in this instance, she was powerless. She couldn't force anything from Sesshoumaru- he was an unpredictable male she didn't know the first thing about. Honestly, he still scared her. Sure he'd been nice this afternoon and yeah she got a lot out of being near him, but the relationship was non existent. She couldn't demand that he explain himself, or make him make some sense.

She also couldn't change that there was a hanyou who had a part of her heart and who always would, even if they could never be together. InuYasha was a big part of her life. He was her best friend and her first love. He was her protector and she would do anything for him. He might not be able to love her the way she needed, but she couldn't control that, either. She could only change or accept what she felt, and what she did.

"Ugh, you're right," she conceded to Sango, rubbing her eyes wearily. She took another bite of glorious chocolate to soothe her nerves.

"Sango," she continued, turning her thoughts to the upcoming battle and all it entailed, "I need to go home to see my family. I need to talk to them before the last fight."

"Yes, that makes sense," Sango allowed, content that her friend was starting to feel a little better about her situation. She knew they'd still circle back to male troubles because they had at least another hour of deconstruction and obsessive attention to detail to pick through, but for now they could move on to other topics.

"I know that supposedly Naraku's going to be defeated, but I don't know what will happen to me after that," Kagome continued.

"What do you mean?" Sango asked the young miko. As far as she was concerned the death of Naraku couldn't have any negative repercussions.

"When the Shikon no Tama is whole and I purify it and make a wish to destroy it, I don't know if the well will still be open. As far as I know, it's only the jewel that lets me travel back and forth through time," Kagome explained.

"It might not be the jewel at all," Sango protested. They'd never been sure about what allowed Kagome to pass through the portal, and worrying over it might be unnecessary.

"Yeah, but it could also be keyed in to the end of the quest. When I'm done with my quest there's no guarantee that I'll end up on the right side of the well. I might not see my family again!" Kagome said, trying not to get too upset.

"But that means you could also be sealed on that side of the well once you're done," Sango said. Kagome had considered this possibility a number of times, but Sango hadn't thought to worry about it. She was now devastated with the possibility of permanently losing her best friend.

"Yeah, you're right," Kagome said miserably. "If that well is sealed I'll lose family either way, no matter what side I'm on."

Sango felt completely dejected. Both options were too sad to contemplate.

"Well," she said, getting to her feet, "there's no use borrowing trouble. We'll do what we have to do and see what happens." When Kagome nodded Sango continued, "In the meantime, I'll take you to the well."

"Yeah, let's just go straight there." Kagome said, brushing herself off as she stood. "If I talk to InuYasha he'll try to stop me like he always does, and I just don't have the energy right now. I want to go home, talk to my mom and grand father, take a bath, and think things through a bit more. If InuYasha really needs me, he can come through to talk to me."

Sango walked discreetly back for Kagome's pack as the miko walked straight to the well. Sango caught up to her a moment later and handed the back pack over. When Kagome had it securely across her shoulders, the older girl leaned in and gave her a hug.

"Don't worry," she said confidently, "everything will work out for the best. I'm sure of it."

Kagome smiled and nodded, glad to have some comfort and reassurance. She climbed to the well's edge and put a leg over. She turned and gave Sango a last smile and a wave before preparing to jump through to her own time.

"Bye, Sango," she said cheerily. "I'll be back sometime tomorrow. I want to spend the day with my family, but something tells me I shouldn't stay too long."

"Yes," Sango agreed, waving back. "I think the fight is almost upon us. It shouldn't be much longer until we face that bastard Naraku."

"Tell InuYasha not to come through unless he's willing to risk some severe 'sitting'," Kagome said as a final instruction.

Sango laughed and promised as Kagome dropped through the well. She turned and headed back to the village. She would tell InuYasha what Kagome had said when she saw him that evening.

It turned out that it wouldn't be necessary at all. InuYasha had other things on his mind at the moment.

When InuYasha had returned from hunting, dragging behind him the carcass of a young deer, he'd deposited the animal by the campfire and immediately turned to look for Kagome. He wanted to be the first to boast about his skills, before that mangy wolf would have a chance to start flapping his gums.

He'd run into Miroku before he'd had a chance to run off, though, thankfully. The monk had warned him about the Girl Talk and he'd taken to the trees, running off in the complete opposite direction from where Kagome's and Sango's scents drifted. He had the feeling that he was one of the last people the young miko wanted to see right now.

He didn't really know why Kagome was so upset. All he'd been doing was trying to protect her from that mangy animal's pawing. Whenever Kouga came around Kagome would smell like rotten fur for days, even after bathing. It made him pissed.

Kagome might not be his mate, but she was his best friend, and damned if he was going to have his best friend smelling like something the cat wouldn't even drag in.

InuYasha wasn't the sort of boy given to much introspection. Unlike Sesshoumaru, his mouth was always engaged without many signals from his brain. He wasn't stupid, but he was often careless and thoughtless, and was always willing to accept the simplest explanation for every situation.

Therefore, while Kagome was in agonies wondering what everything meant and why people did what they did and what she should do in return, InuYasha wasn't nearly as complex or conflicted. He had set ideas about everything and everyone around him, sometimes along the clear cut lines of, 'Food good, pain bad'.

Kagome was a good person. She liked him the way he was, she cared for him, she listened to him, she found jewel shards for him, and she smelled good. He liked her and was comfortable when she was around and always felt calmer when her soothing presence overrode his more aggressive tendencies. All he knew was that he wanted her nearby, and would protect her from anyone or anything that distressed her. He might not love her, and wouldn't admit to himself that she may love him and that his actions sometimes caused her pain, but he still wanted everything good for her. Kagome was Kagome, and she was his best friend. Simple.

Kouga was a jackass who wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. He smelled like crap and was always trying to show InuYasha up and cop a feel off Kagome. InuYasha hated him, so tried to beat the hell out of him. Simple.

Sesshoumaru was a scary son of a bitch. He was violent, unrelenting, ambitious, cold, and smugly superior. He didn't care about anyone or anything and was always trying to pick an unfair fight. He mocked InuYasha for parentage he couldn't control, and held him responsible for things from the past that weren't his fault. So InuYasha always tried to knock that arrogant look off his bastard half brother's face every chance he got, period. Simple.

Kikyou was his first love. He'd promised to go to hell with her. He couldn't protect her from the unfair things that happened in their past, but he would hold to his promise. He cared for Kagome and wanted her around always, but he'd already given a big piece of himself away. He couldn't go back on his word. He'd stay true to Kikyou, as hard as it got, as cold as she was clay or flesh. He was loyal first and foremost, and would stay that way no matter how much it hurt sometimes. Simple.

That was the way InuYasha thought his mind worked, and maybe it was. Over the years he'd gotten very good at simplifying things until they were mere shadows of what they were meant to represent. He overlooked a lot of facts and did a great disservice to many of the people he was in constant contact with, but it was self preservation instinct. It was all he could do. Something kept him from giving up on Kikyou, no matter how wonderful and loving Kagome might have been. Something kept him from evolving his relationship with his half brother, so he did what he could with the information he had. It might not have been right, but it was all he was capable of. In his quieter moments InuYasha felt bad, but until things changed, there was no point in mourning what could never be.

All these thoughts floated on the quieter side of his subconscious. He didn't even bother to bring it to the forefront of his mind.

This was how the soul stealers found him, sitting in a tree, staring off into nothing and thinking small thoughts that would never break the surface.

When he realized what the spirits surrounding him were, and realized who they would lead him to, he jumped down from the trees and raced off after them, headed to find the woman who wasn't the same person he'd known, but was the woman he was always doomed to love.

Sesshoumaru stalked through the woods silently, wandering aimlessly. He'd sent Rin off to his holdings with Jaken, on the back of Ah Un. He'd intended to go with his charge and retainer, but something kept him close by. It was an instinct, and he'd learned long ago never to ignore his instincts.

He thought about finding the miko and seeing what she would be up to this night, but when he tracked down her scent he saw it led to the well.

'She's returned to her time, then,' he realized, 'and is beyond my reach.' He knew she was probably safest in her own era on her home turf, but he hated the thought of being unable to go to her for any reason. He didn't understand the urges and protective feelings she stirred in him, but understanding was irrelevant. For better or for worse, he cared about what happened to the miko.

Oddly enough, the thought didn't upset him at all.

He decided to let fate guide his feet. He didn't desire to run into either the monk or the demon slayer. They were of no consequence to him. He also had no patience for that mangy wolf, even if he was unable to molest Kagome.

He didn't particularly want to see his brother, either, not wishing to engage in another pointless battle, but he found himself coming across the hanyou's scent. It was mingled with the scent of another, one that confused him momentarily.

It smelled like Kagome, only mixed with clay, dirt, and despair. It lacked all the warmth and vitality that surrounded the young miko. Sesshoumaru considered the scent for a moment and concluded who it must belong to. It had to be his bastard brother's woman, the dead bitch miko who'd pinned him to a tree.

The foolish whelp had never given up on her. She was cold, cruel, and blinded to the world around her with her misdirected hate and frustration. Sesshoumaru wasn't familiar with her personally, but it didn't take a genius to smell the bitterness seeping out of her very pores. She was so angry with the world that her basic chemical make up had changed, becoming cruel and angry smelling. This was not a being that anyone, hanyou or no, could fall in love with. His brother was a fool to let her live, and a fool to allow her to come close to her reincarnation.

InuYasha's failure to release Kikyou and put her soul to rest was going to cost Kagome her life. Sesshoumaru remembered clearly the future where Kikyou had risen at the last moment, even after Naraku lay slain and helpless on the field, to put an arrow through the heart of her living counterpart.

Sesshoumaru knew, then, what he must do. He could not allow this dead monstrosity to live. He could not allow her to weaken or kill the miko he'd become… fond of. He would do what his brother was too weak and blinded to do. He'd end the dead miko's abominable existence and protect the living miko's life.

He told himself he was only doing as nature demanded, letting dead things die and living things live. He told himself he simply wanted Rin's future guardian to stay healthy enough to be useful to him in the future. He told himself it had nothing to do with the weight of her head on his shoulder, or the trust she'd placed in him that afternoon by the water, even when she knew what he was and what he was capable of. He told himself his actions had nothing to do with her smile, or how her eyes lit up, or how she was the first person in the history of people to ever make him _feel_…

No, it had nothing to do with any of that.

But Sesshoumaru's inner demon, the same one that leapt and danced a little for joy whenever Kagome was near, the same one that sighed and relaxed in contentment when she was happy and safe, the same one who'd been insisting since the beginning that she needed to be near him, no matter what- that demon wouldn't let him lie to himself anymore.

He cared for the girl and wanted her safe. He wanted her with him. He wanted to see her smile and to have her acting so free and careless when he was around. He wanted her to make it okay for him not to be in control of everything, for it to be okay to feel something aside from rage, to think in ways that weren't solely cold and calculating.

He wanted the miko to live, and that could not happen if the dead miko was left free to cause more damage. Tonight it would end. It would be put right, and as soon as his brother left, he would be the one to do it.

* * *

A/N: We're at 6,500 hits. And I have a stick figure drawing for you guys. It's good. Filled with... sticky goodness. Clean lines.


	9. Chapter 9

Mirrored Future

By Amazonian21

Chapter 9

Recap: _He cared for the girl and wanted her safe. He wanted her with him. He wanted to see her smile and to have her acting so free and careless when he was around. He wanted her to make it okay for him not to be in control of everything, for it to be okay to feel something aside from rage, to think in ways that weren't solely cold and calculating._

_He wanted the miko to live, and that could not happen if the dead miko was left free to cause more damage. Tonight it would end. It would be put right, and as soon as his brother left, he would be the one to do it._

* * *

Sesshoumaru moved slowly through the underbrush until he was positioned in such a way that he could watch the proceedings in front of him. He needed to keep an eye on the proceedings so he could confront the dead miko as soon as his brother left her.

At the moment, his half brother stood face to face with the witch, arms wrapped around her ina parody of a warm embrace. He had his arms wrapped securely around her middle, attempting to draw her in near. She would have been drawn into his chest, had she allowed it. As it was, Kikyou seemed to be leaning slightly away from InuYasha even as he leaned in closer to compensate. The tension between their forms could have cut glass. For a couple destined to go to hell together, they sure seemed unpleasantly estranged.

The hanyou's face wore an expression of resigned despair, love, and beseeching. His eyes never left her face, even though she gave him nothing warm to look at. The miko's gaze stayed glued to the ground, the stars, or InuYasha's haori. She did not look him in the eye, and would not look on him with any measure of affection, but neither did she bother to hate him. She seemed neither pleased nor displeased to be held so passionately by her former love. It was as though she merely tolerated his presence for the moment, hoping to get the encounter she'd expected over with as soon as possible.

Her eyes were cold and distant. Even Sesshoumaru, master of all that was aloof and dispassionate, found her countenance especially foreboding. It was just so unnatural. InuYasha was an ignorant and useless half breed, but he always managed to inspire some sort of response from everyone he met. This woman, who supposedly loved him, didn't seem to care if he stayed or left.

So far his hanyou brother's inferior senses hadn't detected his presence in the forest behind him. Sesshoumaru was downwind, and there stirred no errant breeze to give his location away. The miko, on the other hand, seemed to tense minutely. Her senses must have picked up traces of his youkai. She said nothing, however, and made no move to acknowledge him.

Sesshoumaru wondered at that, having expected to be cursed for eavesdropping. The miko, however, seemed to have no intention of stopping him from hearing all that was being said. She did not hold this most private of moments in any high regard. It was not secret or sacred to her.

Sesshoumaru's sensitive hearing could just pick out the words his brother was saying to Kikyou, whispered urgently into her uncaring ears.

"Kikyou, why won't you look at me? We've found the last of the shards. It will be over soon. I'll kill Naraku and we'll be free!" he said, shaking the impassive miko slightly. He couldn't stand that she wouldn't relax, wouldn't respond to him. He didn't expect her to shout for joy or to hug him. Kagome would have, but Kikyou was way too serious for displays like that.

He did, however, want her to at least tell him what she was thinking. When Naraku was dead, they could go on with their lives. They could live the way they'd dreamed of living, before things started going so wrong in the past.

"Things will be all right again," InuYasha said earnestly, trying to infuse her with some enthusiasm, as if his will alone could accomplish that.

"What do you expect will come of this?" Kikyou asked lowly. She didn't raise her face to meet InuYasha's glance. She didn't raise her voice or inject any feeling into her words. She asked him this question as if she didn't much care about the answer one way or the other.

"Naraku will die and we'll…" InuYasha began, unsure of how to phrase his expectations. He'd promised himself to Kikyou. He'd hurt Kagome inadvertently for over four years now, staying steadfast in his loyalty and dedication to a miko who'd died, always knowing that it was his destiny to be with the woman he'd first loved. Why was Kikyou pretending not to understand what he expected?

"We'll live happily ever after?" she finished. If her voice had held any inflection it would have been a sneer. She finally raised her head to look at InuYasha as she stepped forcefully out of his grasp. "You think that's a possibility for us at this point in time?

"You do not deserve anything from me," Kikyou told the shocked hanyou, traces of ire seeping into her words. "You've betrayed me over and over, in every moment we've shared, under every circumstance. There is no true love between us."

"How the hell can you say that!" InuYasha yelled, balling his hands into fists at his side. He'd be damned if he'd let Kikyou dismiss all of his sacrifice just because she still held bitterness in her heart. She had died bitter, she'd been resurrected bitter, and she'd stayed bitter, even when Kagome had sucked herself dry to raise Kikyou's body from death once more. Could she never change?

"I've given up every chance of happiness I've ever found, just to stay true to you!" InuYasha yelled, feeling the weight of a thousand choices, all leading to this point, all weighing him down with the heaviest of destinies. Had he really been so wrong?

"I'm going to get dragged down to hell, giving up my life and my freedom, just because of you, bitch! And you're trying to make me sound like some faithless bastard?" He was confused, hurt, and enraged. What did he have to do to get a break? Tear out his own eye?

"You haven't done any of this for me," Kikyou spat bitterly. "I know you haven't given in to my reincarnation's many charms," she continued, a mocking tone to her voice. "I know you've been so noble and selfless, keeping her at arm's length all these years. But you've just used me as an excuse," Kikyou accused.

"That's not true!" InuYasha yelled, hurt that Kikyou would toss aside his restraint as if it meant nothing. Deep down he'd always known that if he'd wanted, he and Kagome could have been much more than friends. It was only the memory of the miko in front of him that had restrained him.

"Oh, but it is," Kikyou said earnestly. She had seen much in her personal travels over the years. She knew her reincarnation as well as she knew her own self. She knew the goodness and kindness that resided in the body that held her old soul. She'd seen the way Kagome and InuYasha interacted, and knew that whatever reason the hanyou had for leaving her counterpart without any security, it had nothing to do with her. Not really. He just clung to her memory through fear of an uncertain future. His failure to find comfort and contentment with the living miko wasn't because he mourned the loss of a perfect love in his other life. It was his own personal issue, and she no longer felt like getting written off as an excuse.

"You'll let me drag your body down to hell," she said, bringing her emotions down to a deadened state, worn from using up so much of her passion, "but you have no love to give me. Your body and soul will be mine, but I'll never have your heart."

"No one else has my heart!" InuYasha said wildly. He didn't understand what Kikyou was saying! He'd never allowed himself to relax in anyone's presence enough to really, truly fall in love. He'd denied himself so much, pushed so many people away, missed so many opportunities for happiness, and Kikyou was saying he hadn't done it for her. Who else would it have been for?

"Exactly," Kikyou said, turning her back on InuYasha fully. She knew he would be confused, just as she knew he would overlook everything she had said tonight, repressing it in the back of his mind to mull over at a later date. If there was something he couldn't solve with action, he would ignore it until he could pull it out privately and worry it like a bone.

Sure enough, she felt InuYasha draw up close behind her, wrapping his arms around her front.

"The last battle will be soon," she said, standing stiffly. She would not resist the embrace, but neither would she relax into it. "When it is over, I will take care of some personal business."

"Do you mean killing Naraku?" InuYasha asked into her hair. He was prepared to assure the miko in front of him that he would destroy the evil hanyou himself, once and for all.

"Naraku does not have anything that I am missing," Kikyou whispered softly. InuYasha's ears conveniently decided not to pick up the traces of her answer. He didn't want to understand the implications of the statement. Everyone knew that Kikyou was sustained by a piece of Kagome's soul, the part that held all her love and hate for InuYasha from her past life. Without the remaining pieces, she would never be complete. Her life on earth, such as it was, would always be a shadow and mockery of true life. Feeding off the souls of the dead, operating with nothing except old feelings of love and loathing…

InuYasha would not realize that the woman he had sworn to love would need to absorb the soul of the woman he had sworn to protect in order to regain a semblance of humanity. He could not believe her capable of such devious behavior.

Sesshoumaru, however, had no such mental blocks against the truth.

The miko was planning on killing Kagome. This idea was nothing new to Sesshoumaru; he'd already seen the future where Kikyou had shot Kagome, unprovoked and underhandedly. The hanyou, however, being Kagome's sworn protector, should have been much more willing to see the what was right in front of his face. If the future wherein Kagome was killed at Kikyou's hand were to come true, it would be partly InuYasha's fault for failing to stop the undead miko when he'd had the chance.

Sesshoumaru would not fail, even if his bastard brother would be too weak to succeed. He was sick of seeing his brother's blindness and the miko's self pitying bitterness and anger. A creature such as she should never have the chance to ruin a creature like Kagome. It was unnatural. He would end this abomination tonight, before the moon rose in the sky.

"We can be happy," InuYasha was whispering desperately into Kikyou's hair. "We can be free."

"No," she returned coldly, "it is not our time anymore. There is too much past. There's too much presence. And there's just not enough future. After a certain point, after some decisions are made, you can never go back. We've passed all the forks of fate that would have led to our happy ending. We're not the same people we were."

"I can't accept that!" InuYasha yelled, pulling away from her to hit a tree fiercely with his fist. Why was she being so cruel? Why was she determined to ignore everything they had been?

Why could she forget the past so easily, when he'd wanted to so badly for ages? Why was she blessed with this cruel capacity for dismissal, when he'd been denied that freedom for four important years?

"There is nothing for you to do," Kikyou said, beginning to walk away. "Soon this farce will end, and we'll go together down to hell. Maybe that's where we were meant to be from the beginning," she said, with cold resignation.

"I won't accept that, Kikyou," InuYasha swore, angry and hurt beyond anything he'd felt before in his life. He'd done all he could, hurt himself and others beyond fairness, beyond reason, and beyond expectation, and now he was being told it wouldn't matter in the end.

"You will soon enough," Kikyou promised. Then, without another word, she walked away, leaving InuYasha behind to make some sense out of what had happened.

Sesshoumaru left just as Kikyou did. He didn't make it a habit to pity his bastard brother, but that confrontation left him feeling something almost like… compassion… for the broken hanyou standing in a moonlit glade.

He would enjoy killing this miko far more than he should.

* * *

He stopped a ways away, out of the range of InuYasha's senses. Something told him to stay where he was. He expected that Kikyou would find him.

He wasn't disappointed. Within moments, the dead miko's soul collectors filled the small clearing and swirled around him lazily. The miko herself walked into the clearing a minute later, completely unsurprised to see the cold TaiYoukai waiting for her.

"So you've come to put an end to me?" she asked, without feeling or concern.

"I have," Sesshoumaru stated, drawing his blade slowly, watching the miko's every reaction.

"I won't go easily," she promised him, drawing her own bow from her shoulder. "There is nothing left to my existence except promises and obligations. I will collect what is mine. The miko's soul belongs to me, and I will have it."

"Hn," was all he replied, as he prepared to attack.

He leapt with lazy grace towards the armed miko. He wanted to destroy her, but something held him back from a clean, quick kill. It would have been ultimately safer to end her life before she felt inspired to demonstrate devastating levels of power, but he wasn't ready to put her out of her misery.

Kikyou notched an arrow to her bow and drew back the string with a deft grace. She brought the weapon to her line of sight, steadied herself, and took aim on Sesshoumaru, all in the blink of an eye. She was cool and methodical, strong and sure. She was far superior to Kagome in skill, and yet...

As Sesshoumaru darted in zig zags to throw off the miko's aim, rapidly closing in on her, he noticed that she had a huge hole in her destructive force. Kagome had warded off a massively powerful and vicious youkai all on her own, unarmed and unaided, with just the strength of her inner power.

Kikyou had none of that passion. She had no raw, unrefined reserves to call upon. Even if she did, she lacked the motivation to pull them from the depths of her being. She did not truly desire to act in her own defense. Her life meant nothing, even in her own eyes, because she couldn't find any reason to preserve it. She loved no one, not InuYasha, not herself.

'Who do you love? Who do you protect?'

Sesshoumaru darted around the miko, preparing himself to make the first blow. So far she hadn't loosened any arrows upon him. She would not do anything rashly; all of her shots would count. In this respect, the miko and TaiYoukai were evenly matched. He did not waste energy slashing at her, flinging attack after attack wastefully in her direction. Every move was perfectly choreographed, every breath measured and deliberate.

Taking aim on the center of his being, Kikyou let loose the first bolt. Sesshoumaru easily dodged the arrow, feeling the blazing trail of purification pass by him, inches away. It singed the hairs on his arms and created a tangy taste in his mouth.

He made his own retaliatory swipe with his sword, meaning to take the miko's head off. The miko raised a charged hand to halt his progress, repelling him with the force of her powers.

It continued for a couple of silent minutes in this manner. Sesshoumaru was unafraid. He wouldn't even break a sweat this evening. The miko would ultimately be an easy foe to defeat.

He wasn't sure why she still lived. He should have crushed her in seconds. What was he waiting for? What held him back and made him pull his punches?

"You fight me for my reincarnation, youkai," Kikyou stated coldly, breaking the silence as she continued her half of their deadly dance.

Sesshoumaru was surprised at her attempt to engage him in conversation. They were fighting to her death, afterall. It threw him off momentarily until he decided it was almost be expected. After all, her attempts at self defense had been just as half-hearted as his attacks. Kagome, in a similar position, would have launched many more impressive attacks at this point in the game.

"That is no concern of yours, witch," he replied stoically. He had no desire to discuss his life with clay pots.

"I will die so that she can live," Kikyou said, the ever present bitterness seeping up from her heart to drench all her words. "She will be the cause of my death," she said, mostly to herself.

"You're already dead," Sesshoumaru pointed out impassively. "I'm not killing you tonight. That happened long ago. Several times, in fact. You are the greedy one, hanging on where you are not wanted."

"Hm," Kikyou said disgustedly, sending another arrow his way. He dodged this just as easily as all the others.

"You smell like dirt," Sesshoumaru informed her. He could never resist taunting his opponents. He probably should have been above such antics, but in truth, he wasn't. Their fury and impotent rage never failed to amuse him, even as he destroyed them.

Kikyou's eyes narrowed and her lips pursed in anger. She hated this youkai before her. She hated the way he would kill her without remorse, without grief, without guilt. She hated that when she was gone he wouldn't care, and certainly wouldn't ruin the rest of his life wishing she were still around.

"You are a fool," she countered, lips curling into a sneer. "You love something that was never meant for the likes of you," she said, hating that her reincarnation could inspire such love from all she met, even those who should hate her. Kikyou never had that power. The best she'd gotten from anyone had been respect and fear, InuYasha included.

"That may be so," Sesshoumaru said, swinging his sword in an arc she deflected with her bow.

"I hate her," Kikyou murmured in tones only his sensitive ears would pick up. The lowness created a necessity for Sesshoumaru to strain to catch the words. The effort created an intimate connection between demon and miko, forcing them to block out the external world so that her words could be understood fully. It was a confidence she was sharing, more truthful than any of the usual banter foes make when getting about the business of killing.

"You hate yourself," Sesshoumaru countered, sharing this truth in their perverse and close bond of villain and victim. He didn't know who was who precisely, but could not deny the strength and importance of their temporary relationship.

"She is me. I hate her, so I must hate me," Kikyou said, sagging deeply into herself even as she continued to fight.

"She is not you," Sesshoumaru said with finality. "You are alone in your hatred. Let it die with you."

Kikyou's head snapped up at his words, and she fixed him with a glare of pure malice. Her anger summoned up the first evidence of her legendarily great powers that he'd ever seen. The air crackled with her energy, pink waves licking the air as she prepared to direct the brunt of her attack straight into Sesshoumaru.

The demon lord, however, quickly and calmly brought his sword down in a final arc, slicing through the miko's torso and stilling her bitter heart.

In seconds the purifying energy dissipated, returning to the universe to be recycled as it always had. The air surrounding the still pair calmed and settled, allowing a deep hush to fall on the gruesome scene.

Sesshoumaru stood proud and pitiless over the body of the fallen miko, sword still dripping with her acrid blood. The miko breathed no longer, and the souls her unnatural body contained were no longer trapped in what had become a nightmare of passive aggressive vengeance and emotional destruction.

Sesshoumaru watched as the miko's face relaxed into a true picture of peace. He allowed himself small flights of fancy, imagining that somewhere, the good woman she used to be was thanking him for ending the reign of the monster she'd become. He halted these thoughts soon, however, when the miko's body turned to clay, then to dust, and then blew away in the newly stirring breeze. The time for romance to be wasted on such base material was over.

There was no body left behind. There was no proof of their encounter. Even the blood that had run so freely from his blade was gone, drifting away as ash with the rest of the miko's dusty remains.

He wouldn't have any reason to explain himself or his actions this evening to anyone. InuYasha would never need know.

It was probably wrong to fight your brother's ex girlfriend on behalf of his current female companion without any direct provocation. It was almost certainly morally bankrupt to kill your brother's first love without even telling him about it, leaving her remains to disappear into the wild countryside. It was definitely wicked to be feeling so smug about all of it. And yet, be that as it may, Sesshoumaru was strangely comfortable with all his actions this night. He didn't even blink at the thought of lying to his brother forever, if need be.

He had done what he needed to do. He had done what he had become fated to do, and he would not look back from the course he was fast approaching, wherever it would lead. It was too late to pretend that he could walk away at any point. For better or worse, this wheel was turning and he was caught up in it.

He was now tied forever to the young miko who traveled with his younger brother. Their futures, beginning at the well that fateful night, were not going to part if he had anything to say about it.

Sesshoumaru didn't know exactly what that meant, but he did know one thing for sure; Kagome was his. She owed him a life debt, whether she knew it or not. He found himself smirking at the thought of how he would make her repay it.

* * *

A/N: 9,423 views. So that means we'll definitely hit 10,000 before chapter 10, which will coincidentally be the last chapter. So stick figure!

P.S. All you readers (Approximately 500 of you) are horrendously lazy about reviewing. Except those of you who aren't. Your souls are assurred 7 blushing virgins when you die. The rest of you, however, get nothing. Sorry, I don't make the rules.


	10. Chapter 10

Mirrored Future

by Amazonian21

Chapter 10

Recap:_ He had done what he needed to do. He had done what he had become fated to do, and he would not look back from the course he was fast approaching, wherever it would lead. It was too late to pretend that he could walk away at any point. For better or worse, this wheel was turning and he was caught up in it._

_He was now tied forever to the young miko who traveled with his younger brother. Their futures, beginning at the well that fateful night, were not going to part if he had anything to say about it._

_Sesshoumaru didn't know exactly what that meant, but he did know one thing for sure; Kagome was his. She owed him a life debt, whether she knew it or not. He found himself smirking at the thought of how he would make her repay it._

* * *

InuYasha stood by the bone eater's well, staring down into its depths. His eyes, so adept at seeing clearly even in the worst lighting conditions, were currently trying to see any hint of Kagome coming back to his era. He squinted his eyes as if he could summon her forward through force of will and desire alone.

He needed to see her. He knew that if Kagome found out he'd spent the evening with Kikyou she'd be sad and upset, and would hate the very sight of him. He knew she'd be poor company, and would want some time to herself. Still, as unpleasant as it may be, InuYasha desperately wished she would just be near him. He needed the soothing presence of someone who cared for him, even if there would always be conflicting emotions in the way.

He'd just had his heart trampled on by the one woman who could affect him this way. He didn't know what Kagome could do for him to fix this debacle, but he ran for her the way you run for ice to put on a burn. It won't take away the upcoming blister, but it will soothe the sting in the meantime.

Instead of miko, however, he became aware of the presence of strong youkai.

"Sesshoumaru," he growled, without bothering to turn around. Part of him hoped his brother would strike him in the back, killing him quickly before he could feel it coming. Another part of him trusted his brother would be too noble to do such a lowly thing.

"Get the hell out of here," InuYasha continued tiredly, clenching his teeth and fists. His brother might not hit him, but he would almost undoubtedly harass him in some manner or other. He was nothing if not intrusive.

"You are in my spot," Sesshoumaru said coldly.

"What is that supposed to mean?" InuYasha demanded, turning around abruptly. What was the demon playing at?

"I will remain by this well. You will leave," Sesshoumaru said without preamble, speaking with utmost confidence. He would not be disobeyed.

"What do you want with this well?" InuYasha asked, confused. They both knew that only he and Kagome could pass through the time portal. Others had tried, all failing. Sesshoumaru would be no different. "Only Kagome uses it."

"Hn," Sesshoumaru said disdainfully. His brother was annoyingly dense sometimes. Sesshoumaru did not feel like spelling anything out for the hanyou. He would have to come to an understanding for himself.

He would speak to the miko as soon as she returned to this time. He would tell her what he'd decided; that their fate was intertwined. He would inform her that he wanted her near him, and that she would be required to care for Rin as a mother would. He would advise her that his feelings should be reciprocated, and then would inform her of when they would depart for the Western Lands, after the defeat of Naraku.

Oh, he expected there to be some token resistance. He knew humans had strange notions of courtship and love. She would probably be concerned that all this was too sudden. She would be sure to mention how unlikely it was for deep, abiding love to come from a couple of charged looks, a swim in the lake, and an impromptu hug. No doubt she would worry that her lack of dowry would offend him. She would probably wrestle with feelings of inadequacy. He would simply be sure to reassure her that he would not make mention of her shortcomings at any time in their future.

After all questions were answered satisfactorily, he was sure she would see things his way, confess her deep attraction to him, and willfully leave her friends and family behind to join him in making a new life together.

Poor, poor fatally inexperienced youkai; he didn't stand a chance.

Part of him truly knew better, but most of him was too arrogant and smitten to admit it. He didn't know what else to do. Courting was something that only less ambitious and driven youkai had time for. If Sesshoumaru had been an awkward adolescent, pimply and well acquainted with rejection he would have learned the art of finesse that is necessary when handling emotionally charged females. He would have learnt that no equivalent of, 'Baby, you're fly- let's get it on' ever worked. He would have learnt the dire importance of full consent when discussing any plans surrounding any female. Even InuYasha knew these things. He'd left many a crater as he stumbled through the lessons, gaining hard earned skills in his many arguments with Kagome.

But Sesshoumaru was uncertain about a lot of things at the moment, and this was unacceptable. All he knew for sure was that he and Kagome needed to be together. He didn't like the thought, but he'd resigned himself enough that he'd begun to look forward to the prospect. He didn't know how it would work out, when it would happen, or what they'd do in the meantime, but he'd wing it as he went along. Everything would sort itself out. He was Sesshoumaru- things were too afraid of him not to sort themselves out.

In the meantime, there was a hanyou shaped annoyance to deal with. His half brother was currently occupying the same area where Sesshoumaru would finalize things with Kagome. That was unacceptable.

"I will speak to the miko," Sesshoumaru said. His brother would not connect the dots until the hand holding the crayon was dragged across the paper for him.

"What do you want with Kagome?" InuYasha asked, hackles rising in anger as he came to the absent miko's defense. He would do whatever it took to keep this bastard from hurting her, even if he hadn't when he'd had plenty of opportunity down by the river.

"We have unfinished business," Sesshoumaru stated, beginning to feel the first stirring of true annoyance. He wanted the whelp gone, and wanted him gone now. He stood in the way of the woman who made him feel happy.

"You can discuss your business with me," InuYasha said, not liking the sound of this at all. He remembered with shocking clarity the way Sesshoumaru had behaved this afternoon. He remembered the half declaration the TaiYoukai made concerning having a future with Kagome. He knew she'd been covered in his scent in a manner that implied they'd been in touching contact with each other. He new Sesshoumaru had growled at Kouga's liberties, and knew they'd been left alone when he and the wolf demon had run off to hunt.

InuYasha silently cursed himself. If only he hadn't been so determined to show up Kouga, he would never have left Kagome alone with someone like his brother. How could he slip up in such a manner?

"It is nothing for you to hear," Sesshoumaru countered, feeling his patience slip even further into dangerous territory. It appeared it would be necessary to knock some sense into the hanyou's head.

InuYasha's eyes widened as all the pieces clicked together in a final, clarifying moment of epiphany. The conclusion that had been too ludicrous to consider was staring him strait in the eyes. Sesshoumaru was interested in Kagome. He was interested in her for personal reasons, reasons he didn't want to share with anyone else.

That was unacceptable.

"You bastard!" InuYasha yelled, drawing his sword and making a run for his brother. "Kagome is not for you!" he screamed, with all the agony of his encounter with Kikyou fresh in his voice.

"She is certainly not for you, whelp," Sesshoumaru said coldly, deftly avoiding all InuYasha's impassioned attempts to harm him. "I smell dead miko on you. What do you want with living ones? You can't have both."

InuYasha, not knowing the true cruelty hidden in his half brother's words, unaware that the dead miko in question was now truly gone, reacted only to the taunts on the surface.

"What do you know about it?" he yelled, slashing and fighting as if finally reaching his breaking point. This evening had been much too much for him to handle. Between Kikyou's cold treatment and Kagome's absence, Sesshoumaru's presence was too much to take.

"I know Kagome will have better," he said smugly, not even bothering to draw his blade in self defense. His brother's attacks were so sloppy it would have been a waste of energy.

"You can't have her!" InuYasha wailed, angry almost to the point of emotional hysteria. It wouldn't take much more to reduce him to a complete wreck after all he'd been through in such a short period of time. "I need her," he said, with a desperate surety.

"You use her," Sesshoumaru said, letting the truth do to InuYasha what he would not do with his sword. There was more than one way to defeat an opponent, and it wouldn't be long before InuYasha saw that Kagome belonged with someone who could make her happy.

"She's my friend, you bastard!" InuYasha yelled, with a swipe at his head. "She cares for me, and does what she can to make me happy! I protect her, and she's everything good in my life! You wouldn't know the first thing about it, Sesshoumaru," InuYasha said, defending himself and his relationship to the cold demon lord, "you don't know what it means to just care for someone. You're heartless."

"I know better than you could imagine," Sesshoumaru said through clenched teeth. He knew all too well how it felt to be willing to sacrifice yourself for the sake of someone you cared for. He would do it for Rin in a heartbeat, and would now do it for Kagome as well.

"I wonder, little mutt," Sesshoumaru continued, with no inflection to give away his emotional strain, "if you truly know what it means to care for someone, heart, body, mind, and soul. It seems as though you are the one hurting people you're sworn to protect, all in the name of denial."

"What the hell are you talking about?" InuYasha demanded, guilt seeping into his veins, giving Sesshoumaru's words more weight. He knew many of his own shortcomings where Kagome was concerned. He really didn't want to hear them listed off by the demon lord in front of him.

"I'm talking about dead and live mikos, you fool," Sesshoumaru said, allowing his contempt to seep into his voice. "I'm talking about keeping someone you can't love as they need chained to you, just for your own selfish satisfaction."

"It's not like that," InuYasha whispered, inexplicably halting mid attack. It felt as though all his secret fears were being pulled to the surface and examined by cold, impassive amber eyes.

"It's exactly like that," Sesshoumaru said with stoic certainty. "You're stopping her from leaving you, even though you hurt her, just because you don't think you can make it on your own."

"I don't want to hurt her," InuYasha said, sinking to the floor and burying his head in his hands. At that moment he could care less about the demon lord in front of him. Attack and defense were the last things on his mind. He would have welcomed a killing blow for a split second, if it would wipe away all this emotional strain.

"Then free her," Sesshoumaru said with almost gentle finality. He wanted the miko, yes, but in that moment he knew something about his brother. InuYasha would never find peace until he found true freedom. That would only come when Naraku was defeated and the women in his life were dealt with honestly. Sesshoumaru had already done the whelp a silent favor by sorting out Kikyou for him. He'd continue his mission of 'service' and sort Kagome out, too.

"Leave me," Sesshoumaru said, breaking into the hanyou's thoughts. "Go into your forest and think about your life," he instructed. "You're a mistake and an abomination," he said, cruelty the only tool he had on hand to use while dealing with his brother. Familial concern was not something he had vast experience with. Gentleness and soothing were not things he was easily capable of.

"Clean up your life and feelings, since you are unable to wash away the stain of your birth" he continued, knowing that he sounded incredibly harsh. It was all he knew, and probably what his half brother needed most at this moment. He'd had a long time of being coddled by tender mikos. Someone needed to kick his ass into gear.

InuYasha finally raised his head to stare his half brother in the eye. His emotions were sufficiently controlled to allow him to speak clearly, with great effect.

"I'll go," he said, resignation deep in his voice, "because I owe her that much after all this time. If you can make her happy, I want to see it. But bastard, don't you dare hurt her," he said, leaving absolutely no room for doubt that he fully meant it. "She's worth more than all of us put together," he concluded.

Sesshoumaru did not disagree. Instead, he watched passively as his brother turned on his heel and sped off into the darkness. He would need a lot of time and a lot of forest air to deal with the fact that his hated older brother was better at guarding Kagome's feelings than he was.

Besides, half of him expected Kagome to tell Sesshoumaru to hit the road. She'd be polite about it, but the young miko knew her own mind. For a split second InuYasha came out of his stupor of self pity long enough to spare his brother a pitying thought. The TaiYoukai wouldn't know what to do with Kagome if she got into one of her moods.

When he was gone and all traces of his energy were no longer detectable from this distance, Sesshoumaru allowed himself to rest against the base of the god tree.

He would be the first person the miko saw when she returned.

* * *

Kagome climbed up the side of the well with a heavy heart. Her visit home had been pleasant, but she'd chickened out in the end. She'd intended to tell her mom, brother, and grandfather all about the upcoming battle and her uncertain future, but when it came down to it, she couldn't worry them.

They'd just been so happy to see her. Her mother had cooked her favorite foods, her grandfather had talked her ear off with loads of demon stories, and her little brother talked her into playing video games with him. It had all been so nice, so peaceful and happy.

Part of her wasn't willing to admit that it could all end. She could end up trapped on the other side of the well when this was all over. She could end up disappearing from their lives, and they'd have no way of knowing what had happened to her.

So she put off the encounter at first, telling herself she'd tell them all about it after dinner. No point in ruining a great meal. But after dinner her mom had coaxed her into helping with the dishes. As they worked, Kagome told her about Sesshoumaru. It was an easier subject. Moaning about personal angst was less trying than telling your mother you were going to get into a fierce fight and possibly not come back.

Her mother's advice had been much the same as Sango's. She'd simply added an addendum telling Kagome to follow her heart, and not to feel rushed into anything. No matter what, Kagome had control over her own life and decisions. Kagome knew that was true from looking in the mirror. All of her futures so far had only come about because of decisions she'd made. She would decide what happened to her, and what her future would hold.

That mother/daughter moment had evolved into a family game night with Souta and her grandfather, all sitting around the table laughing and playing cards. That was no time for such sad discussion.

Then she went up to linger in the bathroom, soaking in the tub until she was a raisin. When she came out, her family had already gone to bed. She followed their lead and slept, waking in the early morning to get a head start on her day. She left her family a note, telling them she would always love them, and left their time. She looked behind her the whole way, hoping to imprint every detail on her mind.

She knew she'd done her family a disservice. They deserved better, they deserved her full honesty. But this was all she was capable of at the moment. She needed to pretend there was no reason for such extreme measures, that she had no reason to tell them she might not return. This was what she'd decided to do, and she would stand by that decision. She hoped she never had reason to regret it.

So it was with a heavy heart that Kagome reached the well's edge and swung over. She looked up, expecting to see InuYasha angrily waiting for her. She'd been surprised when he hadn't come through the well in spite of Sango's warnings, pissed that she'd left without even telling him where she was going.

Instead, she got an eyeful of demon lord. Sesshoumaru was present in his full stately splendor, leaning against the god tree casually. Only he could make relaxation look so regal. This was not what she had imagined when she came back to this time.

"Sesshoumaru," she said, feeling suddenly nervous. Why was he waiting for her? She was glad to see him, but didn't know what to do. What was expected of her at a time like this? "Where is InuYasha?" she asked, not knowing what else to say.

"He is in the woods," he replied, walking over to the miko. He reached down and removed her back pack from her shoulders, holding it so she could gain her balance as she struggled to stand. She looked at him in wary thanks.

"What's he doing there?" she asked, nonplussed. There was usually nothing that could keep him away from her when she came back from her time. He would be the first one to welcome her back, even though he usually launched right in on the complaints and yelling.

"Fixing his life," the TaiYoukai answered shortly. He really did not want to be talking about his brother at this moment. "I came to make sure you returned safely," he said, pulling the conversation back to the matter at hand.

"Thank you," Kagome replied with a small smile, "but why? I come back and forth on my own all the time," she informed him. She didn't want him thinking she was some helpless human in desperate need of constant help or supervision. She could handle herself when push came to shove.

"I wanted to," he said simply. It was, after all, the truth.

"Oh," Kagome said, not knowing what else to say. She looked up into Sesshoumaru's face, realizing that at some point in their discussion he'd gotten much, much closer. She was inches from his chest, directly meeting his eyes. They were amber and rich like sunset. Staring straight into his gaze like that was the hardest thing she'd ever done in her life.

Sesshoumaru had an advantage over Kagome. He didn't have the first clue of how to convince the young woman that she needed him as much as he was starting to want her, but he had an old stand by; his instincts. And currently they were telling him that she smelled very, very nice, and that he should think about kissing her really soon.

He set her yellow back pack on the ground and took one more little step closer. His arm, no longer censored and reviled, closed the gap between them. It wrapped around her waist, pulling her until their fronts met, and tightened around her so she couldn't run away.

Not that the thought ever entered Kagome's mind. She'd gasped in surprise when she felt him pull her close, but when she continued to look into his eyes, feeling that electricity she always felt when near him, she couldn't think of anywhere else she wanted to be. It was almost overpowering. Her breathing came in short breaths, making her head a little light. She could see every detail of Sesshoumaru's face, yet it seemed to be blurring in and out of focus. Her body and mind felt hyper aware of every place their bodies touched, but her brain was still muggy and slightly disconnected from the present. It had decided its services were no longer required and took a break for the evening.

It all felt so amazing. She felt alive in ways she'd never felt before, tingly and excited. This being in front of her was so familiar to her, so comforting and solid. She didn't know his favorite color, what his childhood had been like, or what his views were on politics, but she knew she liked being in his arms. For once she felt completely safe and right, even though she'd never before come to close to drowning emotionally.

Her arms came up to circle around his head, anchoring her to his body while keeping her from fainting dead away. She felt his face come down to rest by her shoulder, breath tickling the side of her neck. Tingles ran rampant up and down her arms as he nuzzled her neck, inhaling her scent deeply as if finally getting his first taste of fresh air in years.

All of a sudden she felt her legs give out as he placed his lips on her pulse point, lightly kissing his way up towards her ear. The feel of his mouth on her skin wreaked havoc on her senses, tickling but stimulating her as nothing ever had. She thought she could die a happy woman when his tongue lazily began to follow the same trail as his lips.

She couldn't resist giving a small moan of encouragement. Sesshoumaru heard it gave an answering rumbling growl. She felt it in her own chest, thrilling in the vibrations that made her toes curl. Sesshoumaru smirked at her response and tightened his one armed hold on her, lifting her until she was almost carried by him. She was in full contact with the InuYoukai, and loved every inch of it.

"I will make you mine," he stated, pausing in his attentions so the miko would have no confusions about what his actions meant.

Kagome stiffened at his words, pushing away from his chest so she could look him incredulously in the eye. She hadn't expected much, having no clue what she should expect in the first place, but she certainly had not thought of this.

She knew enough about demons to know that inu youkai didn't mess around when it came to romantic attachment. So she'd known from the beginning that if things started to develop, they would go pretty far pretty quickly. She and Sesshoumaru wouldn't date casually and part amicably after a few months. If she allowed this to happen, it would be permanent.

She just hadn't really thought it would happen. She'd been so caught up in the angst of the situation that the reality was another entity entirely, one that required much more thought.

Sesshoumaru felt her tension. He didn't feel like releasing his hold on the girl right when they'd started to get to the good part, but she looked ready to start purifying things. Her arms pushed against him and her skin tingled, responding to her heightened emotions. The look on her face told him that she hadn't anticipated this particular course of events.

He slowly put her down, sliding her along his body. He loved the feel of her too much to push her away immediately. When her feet fully touched the ground he gave one last squeeze, releasing her fully with an exasperated little sigh.

"What is the matter?" he asked, preparing himself to deal with the upcoming confrontation. This shouldn't take too long.

"What's the matter?" Kagome repeated with incredulity. "The matter is that you're claiming me!" she stated, throwing her hands in the air. "And you're stating it like I have no say in the matter."

"Does it displease you?" Sesshoumaru asked stoically. "Are you not happy with this?" he questioned, gesturing between the two of them to indicate what had happened.

"I'm fine with that," Kagome assured him, shaking her head, "but I'm not ready to be mated! I barely know you! It wasn't all that long ago that you tried to kill me!" she almost shouted. Was he out of his mind?

"Hn, the past is past," Sesshoumaru said, waving his assassination attempts away carelessly. He hadn't succeeded in killing her, and ultimately that was all that mattered.

"But the past is what decides the future!" She yelled, frustrated that he could be so blasé about something like spending the rest of your life with a near stranger.

"I can't let you make me yours when I don't know you at all," Kagome said, beginning to pace the floor. "Where would we live? What would the days be like? How would we get along together? What about me would annoy you, and what about you would annoy me? How would we make decisions? Because I'm not some docile little creature you can order around, and I want some control over my future," she said, working herself into full ranting mode.

Sesshoumaru let her work off some of her steam. He already knew the answers to most of her questions. She wouldn't like what he'd come up with, but he still knew.

He walked into the miko's warpath and put out his arm to stop her. He pulled her abruptly into him and lifted her chin until her eyes met his. The familiar jolt of electricity once again flowed between them, binding them together in the most important way.

"Do you feel that?" Sesshoumaru asked, his voice low and soothing. He did not quite know how to be warm and open, but he would do what he could to assuage her fears. "We are already connected."

Kagome could only nod. She did feel their connection in every atom. She knew he would keep her safe, and would try to keep her happy. She knew that somehow, in spite of all expectation to the contrary, this was right…

"Good," Sesshoumaru said, lowering his forehead until it rested on hers, "because that is all that matters right now." He could see that she understood what he was saying, but could feel the protest build up in her again.

"The rest is just words," he said, lowering his lips until they grazed hers in the lightest of kisses. "They mean everything and nothing, but they are just words."

Kagome sighed in acceptance and momentary concession. She threaded her fingers through his hair, bringing his head down to hers. She pressed her lips against his once more, loving the spark that seemed to blaze between them as they touched. She'd had no idea it could feel like this…

She began massaging the base of Sesshoumaru's skull lightly, trailing her fingers up and down his neck and through his hair. This caused Sesshoumaru, the stoic and impassive killer, to let out a whimper of helpless pleasure.

Kagome let out a small smirk of her own, delighted she'd found such a sensitive area. Her smirk only lasted until he let out a feral growl and crushed her to him, deepening their kiss with fierce intensity. His tongue darted out to run along her bottom lip, demanding entrance into her mouth. She readily complied, eager to be kissing him even more fully.

Soon, short of breath and feeling utterly alive and hypersensitive, Kagome knew they'd better stop before things got out of control. She felt good about them beginning a relationship, but remembered the words of her mother. She would set the pace, and she would not feel pressured into anything.

"Sesshoumaru," she said, pushing slightly away from him. Getting away was difficult because his lips followed hers whenever she moved them out of reach. She would just make important strides towards freedom when he would swoop in and reclaim his new territory, cutting off her attempts.

"Sesshou- mmppfff!" Kagome stated, once again getting caught by his lips mid escape. Finally, having enough of his distraction techniques, she brought her hand up in front of her lips. She clamped her palm over her mouth, using the other hand for leverage out of his grasp. Giggling slightly at the look of confused annoyance on the youkai's face, Kagome stepped back and put her free hand on her hip.

"That's enough out of you," she declared, still smiling behind her hand. She didn't lower it until his eyes focused back on her face and he seemed to be paying attention again.

"What is it, wench?" he asked, with a mock growl.

"I need to get back to my camp," she explained. It was getting late in the afternoon and she'd promised Sango she'd be back already. She didn't want one of the others to come out looking for her and find her making out with their former enemy. That would be very awkward.

"You do not need to return to them," Sesshoumaru began regally. "From now on you will travel with me," he stated, calmly and surely.

"Oh, no I won't," Kagome said, just as surely. "I have a job to finish with Naraku, and a big battle to fight in. And I would never abandon my friends," she declared. She wouldn't leave the people she cared about most for any reason. Especially not when there was so much left to be done. Sango and Miroku would understand about her relationship and would accept it in time, but InuYasha would be another thing altogether.

That thought brought her up cold. InuYasha… Oh, he would not like this at all. He would be so upset with her, and would probably hate her for even talking to a brother he despised. He was so possessive when it came to Kouga, what would he think when it was someone he hated even more?

Kagome felt a little nauseous at the thought. That was one confrontation she didn't relish having in her future.

"I can't even begin a relationship until the Shikon no Tama is destroyed," she concluded, having resumed her pacing. "It's absolutely out of the question. No, there's nothing else for it- we can't even discuss the future until this mess is all taken care of," she said with a degree of finality.

"No," Sesshoumaru stated calmly, amused but also annoyed with the miko's antics. "We will discuss this now. It's very simple. You will battle with Naraku as we saw. We will win. Afterwards, you and I will be together. You will be a good guardian for Rin, and we will be mated. That is all that is necessary to know."

Kagome glared at him but didn't argue. She just kept pacing, working her mind over every little crack and flaw in the whole situation, unwilling to let things lie undisturbed. Was she never still? Would she always make even the simplest things much more complicated than they needed to be?

For Sesshoumaru, this was not a difficult issue. His inner youkai had found a mate. The mate didn't object to the idea, overall. He felt like he'd finally come home when he held her in his arms. It was a very agreeable situation as far as he could see. What were a few details here and there? Nothing to cry over. The battle with Naraku would be won and they would continue on from there. That was the end of the story.

"You make it sound so simple," Kagome grumbled, looking surly.

"It is," Sesshoumaru replied, quirking the corner of his mouth in a small smile. Kagome couldn't help smiling back when she saw it. It was such a rare sight when he wasn't planning on killing something.

"I would still feel better waiting to discuss this until everything with Naraku is settled," Kagome said, sighing at the thought of what they knew lay ahead. It was going to be a long day, whenever it occurred.

"You won't have to wait long," a new voice interrupted them, as a figure strode up the hill towards them. Sango came into sight, looking worried and tense.

"Naraku's been sighted coming this way," she said, looking between the miko and the demon lord. "It looks like today is the day we've been waiting for."

* * *

A/N: Okay, I tried to make it in 10 chapters, but there's a lot to wrap up still. So at leasta couple more, but this will NOT be the song that never ends.

And you guys rocked the reviews. I made a lot of 'virgin' promises. I've never written the word 'virgin' so often in one sitting before.

I have the stick figure, I just have no scanner. But I do have a fax machine at work. Do I dare use something that everyone in my corporate office can read? Probably not, but I will find a way to get it up. Afterall, we're now on over 12,000 hits. That's craptastic.


	11. Chapter 11

Mirrored Future

By Amazonian21

Chapter 11

Recap: _"I would still feel better waiting to discuss this until everything with Naraku is settled," Kagome said, sighing at the thought of what they knew lay ahead. It was going to be a long day, whenever it occurred._

_"You won't have to wait long," a new voice interrupted them, as a figure strode up the hill towards them. Sango came into sight, looking worried and tense._

_"Naraku's been sighted coming this way," she said, looking between the miko and the demon lord. "It looks like today is the day we've been waiting for."_

* * *

Though his face betrayed no expression at the demon slayer's announcement, Sesshoumaru was thrilled. At last; the final battle with that arrogant and annoying evil hanyou. It was about time. He'd hated waiting on the cowardly annoyance to show his face. Sesshoumaru had decided early on that attempting to track the elusive half demon would be a waste of time. Chasing around the countryside after something that wouldn't always leave a trail was a fool's errand and beneath him. Still, it had rankled. Sesshoumaru did not like leaving the choice of when and where he would fight up to his opponents.

Today, however, he couldn't bring himself to mind too much. He was assured by the mirror that they would be victorious this day. It would just be one more personal victory to add to the ever growing list he'd recently started. He'd recovered a lost family heirloom. He'd bossed his stupid half brother around, even into leaving the side of someone he'd sworn to protect, no easy task. He'd killed an annoying dead miko. He had just kissed a delicious living miko and had set her straight about their future.

He was invincible. He was untouchable. He'd slipped so far into his habitual battle-ready cold front that he was a little delusional. Perfect; it was the best time to fight ultimate evil.

Kagome, on the other hand, was a lot more nervous. She wasn't necessarily worried they'd die, though that fear could never fully leave her. She knew what was coming; she'd seen it all in the mirror. Yes, she knew they would win. Yes, she knew Naraku would be vanquished and they'd reclaim and purify the Shikon no Tama. But she also knew that they would all get some pretty nasty bumps and bruises along the way. It's impossible to rush into a fight with a ton of possessed demons and a tentacle waving hanyou without getting some slashes, gashes, and minor broken bones. The humans, at least, would be feeling some discomfort tomorrow.

She also remembered that at the end of the battle Sesshoumaru would walk up to her in front of all her friends and smooch her publicly.

That would be something difficult to explain. She couldn't imagine a conversation that wouldn't be really hard to get through. You don't just flippantly say, 'Oh, hey, guys... Have you met my new boyfriend, the cold, rude, attempted murdering demon lord Sesshoumaru? Yes, that same Sesshoumaru who's been showing up random afternoons to pick fights with our friend InuYasha. Oh, so you have met.' Right, this would be a piece of cake.

She wanted to kiss him again, sure, but did it have to be in front of InuYasha of all people? Sango and Miroku would have been bad enough, but at least they were reasonable people. And Sango knew all about it anyway. She would be even more of a calming influence, or at least a little muscle power to help sort things out.

Oh, no, Shippou would be there! He was an impressionable young kitsune! He still wished InuYasha would be nicer to Kagome so she wouldn't have any reason to leave. The little kit was a romantic at heart- he wanted them to get together, be happy, and be the mom and dad he'd lost so long ago. How could Kagome tell him that would never happen?

Kagome occupied herself with these trivial little thoughts as she followed Sango up the hills to join the others in the nearby valley meadow. She dwelt on little things like kisses and kitsunes because they distracted her from the bigger, badder things coming up. Future emotional fear was a good diversion from more immediate physical pain.

Battle was harsh. She'd lived through many of them, and they never got any easier for her. InuYasha, Sesshoumaru, and Kouga would rush into the thick of the fighting, weapons and claws flashing, blood flowing, withstanding blows that would kill a human man in seconds. They would fight without fear because they had inhuman regenerative powers and superhuman strength and speed. They always acted with courage, but their physical natures made them incapable of understanding the raw, visceral fear that comes from knowing that one bad gash, one un-dodged blow, one inch to the left could end your life. They never had to think about bleeding to death from a cut two inches wide. They never had to worry about a lingering death from infection. They never had to worry about shattered bones, blindness, crippling...

Battle was only truly a trial by fire for the weaker, ephemeral humans who faced it repeatedly and still returned to fight again, even knowing they could be crushed like bugs in milliseconds.

InuYasha and Sesshoumaru would relish this fight because they could discount the upcoming pain. Their bruises would fade in hours and their cuts just as quickly. Neither of them ever watched as Miroku silently rubbed his aching and cramping palm, suffering intensely from the constant curse. They never saw Sango wincing as she rotated sore shoulders and worked the stiffness out of a leg that hadn't properly healed years after one particularly nasty break. And this battle would give both of Kagome's friends plenty of scars to nurse for the next couple of weeks.

Yes, Kagome would not think of such things. Sesshoumaru was going to kiss her again in a couple of hours and that was all she needed to worry about.

Sesshoumaru walked on ahead of the two women, scouting the land ahead. He would make sure that the miko was not walking into any dangerous situations unaware. He anticipated relishing the battle, yes, but he felt uneasy and worried about the little miko walking behind him. She was strong, yes, and had survived many dangerous encounters that should have ended in her death. She had the ability to protect herself to a limited degree and wouldn't be a liability in battle. Still, she was his future mate. And looking at her, she suddenly looked even smaller and more delicate than she really was. She would need him; she would need his protection and his strength.

He could provide that. He would see to it personally that the miko was unharmed during this battle. It was his duty and his right as her new protector.

He surreptitiously watched her as they walked, eyes turning towards her under lowered lids. He looked as though he concentrated on the road ahead, but his attention was solely for Kagome.

He saw the way she darted quick glances at him when she thought he wouldn't notice. That made him smirk. It was good to be in his mate's thoughts, even at a time like this. He watched her hair as it cascaded around her shoulders in a dark, silky river's flow. It caught the light and threw back a deep blue reflection, looking for all the world like a deep, rich, evening stream, cool and refreshing. She was beautiful.

Kagome didn't notice his attentions or his small smiles, but Sango did, and it made her oddly happy. It was reassuring to know that the intimidating TaiYoukai cared for her friend, even when no one else was looking. If nothing else, the miko would have superior protection in the upcoming battle. Inu youkai were fiercely loyal and protective of their loved ones. Sesshoumaru would make sure her friend stayed as safe as possible.

Sango and Kagome walked side by side, sharing the comradery of silent sisterhood. Kirara padded silently behind them like a sentinel, tense and alert. The fire demon could feel the approaching evil and it made her nervous. She wouldn't relax until she knew her human was out of harm's way, and all the approaching demons had been disposed of.

The two girls didn't say much to each other. There was nothing to be said that hadn't been said a thousand times before.

Except, of course, "Sango, if I die, you can have my backpack."

To which a snorting Sango replied, "Oh sure, you're only saying that because you know you'll live."

Well, it was true. But it still brought small smiles to the girls' faces, and they'd both desperately needed that small comfort.

"I feel like I'm supposed to be up acting on stage when all I've read are the Cliff's Notes," Kagome huffed as they crested the final hill.

"I feel like I have no idea what you just said," Sango replied, once again confused by her friend's future banter.

"It's just as well," Kagome sighed. Similes weren't for everyone.

They reached the top of the last hill. The valley below would be where they made their stand against Naraku. Kagome could recognize the setting as identical to what she'd seen in the mirror. There were the same trees, the same general layout, and the same small stream off to her left. The sight down in the valley's meadow, however, made the whole world slow down and zoom in on the figures in front of her.

InuYasha stood still and proud, a living and breathing work of art come to life. The bright red of his haori stood out in gloriously sharp relief against nature's green background, his silver hair whipping about him as if jealous that his attention stayed fixed on some point far in the East. He looked older and stronger in that moment than he ever had before. Kagome had to wonder if the maturity that lay so newly across his brow was real, or just a trick of the early evening's fading light. Either way, it made him look like a gorgeous, beautifully familiar stranger. He was rugged, strong, and entirely focused, and in that moment Kagome could completely forgive herself for falling in love with him once upon a time. She would have been a fool not to.

What really made the scene picturesque, however, was the lithe and composed figure of the TaiYoukai coming up to stand behind him and to the left. He stopped three feet away from the hanyou, his attention fixed on the East as well. Both beings shared the same hair and eye color, and both presented unnaturally striking figures, but there was not much to physically link them beyond that. Sesshoumaru was no living marble; he stood so still and sure it was impossible to detect any sign of life from her vantage point on the hillside lookout. The only things moving were his shocking lengths of silver hair, flowing and waving softly to the ends, dancing around his torso lovingly in the small evening breeze. His stark white haori next to his brother's completed the amazingly optimistic picture of the valley: white, red, and green. Purity, passion, and life.

Kagome desperately wished she had a camera. It was a moment worth remembering forever: Brothers Prepared for Battle. It was such an amazing sight to see; power, strength, determination, loyalty, and an overwhelming feeling of rightness all flowing from two such dissimilar men. It was as though even the ground the brothers stood on recognized that they were the world's first and best defense against an evil that never should have existed in any time, in any universe. Kagome felt lucky to witness this; there were so few who could appreciate the significance of Sesshoumaru and InuYasha standing on the same side of a battle with no blood drawn between them and no barbs thrown.

Well, no barbs that she could hear, anyway.

"I see the time has come for me to save your worthless hide yet again, halfling," Sesshoumaru said as he walked up to stand by InuYasha's side.

"Keh, you wish," InuYasha replied, eyes never leaving the horizon. "Ten to one says I'll be the one to save your sorry ass before the night's through," he countered, fully prepared to rise to his brother's baiting.

"He'll be here in moments," Sesshoumaru stated, sure that his brother's inferior senses would be unable to sense Naraku clearly from this distance.

'I can tell, you condescending jerk," InuYasha muttered, but his heart wasn't in it. He kept sniffing the air, looking for something. Or, someone.

He could smell Sesshoumaru clearly. His scent wasn't strong, but his presence exaggerated its effects. Sango was cresting the hill. Miroku and Shippou were walking up from Kaede's village. A cool breeze blew Kagome's scent down to him, and it immediately soothed his ruffled nerves as he'd so longed for it to do. He'd missed her while she'd been gone and had been anxious to see her again since he'd been chased away from the well. But even her smell wasn't what he sought.

Where was Kikyou? The miko knew the battle would be coming soon, she'd said as much herself. She should be here amongst the defenders, helping them to win the fight against their common enemy. But so far, she was nowhere to be found. He hadn't even seen sign of those damned soul catchers anywhere. What was going on?

He didn't have long to dwell on it, however, because his full attention was captured by the group of warriors assembling around him and his half brother. Sango looked fiercely determined. Miroku was making great strides towards appearing serene, but even his brow was creased with worry. Shippou looked scared, but the little kit was trying so bravely to hide that fact. He wanted to fight, and wanted to help, and today he would get his chance.

Kagome, who he'd expected to either start chattering endlessly in an attempt to cheer them up and distract herself from her own nerves or to be about ready to throw up from fear, was the calmest and surest of them all. She looked like this whole battle was a foregone conclusion with the outcome assured.

It pissed InuYasha off a little. Who was she to look so damned at ease right now? She was the weakest out of everyone! What right did she have to be so centered when he, a battle hardened hanyou, felt so nervous and edgy he could chew through tin cans? He wanted to poke her, or to taunt her childishly to get a rise out of her.

He made a move towards her to begin his pestering until he was stopped abruptly by a low, almost inaudible rumbling growl. It was clearly a growl of serious warning, leaving no doubt in the most primal center of his brain that he really, really should not take another step in the same direction.

He looked over to Sesshoumaru. He almost couldn't believe that such a protective sound could come from someone so distant, but the proof was right in front of his eyes. This time Sesshoumaru wasn't making any pretense about being disinterested in the miko. He stared InuYasha down with intense direct eye contact, broadcasting his message loud and clear. The miko was spoken for and was not to be harassed.

InuYasha felt his hackles rising in contestation, his demon nature urging him to submit a counterclaim for his friend's affections. One look at his brother, however, showed that this was a fool's idea. This demon was no Kouga to mess around with in childish fits of jealousy. He was no wimpy wolf demon who held only a passing affection and interest in Kagome. This was a true demon lord who'd made his decision and was fully willing to stand by it, even with gruesome violence.

InuYasha told himself he just didn't have time to deal with the white menace properly at the moment. He had other, much more important things to worry about. Like kicking Naraku's ass. It had nothing to do with the fact that he knew, down to his bellybutton, that Sesshoumaru would make short work of him with the mood he was in.

He let out a small, 'Feh!' and turned to heckle Shippou. The little demon had been the only one of the group who also picked up Sesshoumaru's message. He looked confused and a little alarmed, but had decided to put it out of his mind. It couldn't mean what he thought it meant. That would be absurd.

This whole exchange was lost on the humans present. None of them spoke possessive demon fluidly enough to have caught it. They spent their final peaceful moments exchanging small words of comfort and assurance and checking their weapons and supplies.

Sango and Kagome had spoken at length about the remaining prophecy and what would occur today. They had decided to tell Miroku about what Kagome had seen of Naraku's defeat. The monk deserved to know what they knew concerning their upcoming success. It could boost his morale and give him something sure to fight for.

They'd opted not to tell Shippou. The little kit couldn't keep a secret to save his life, and wouldn't have the maturity to know that just because you know how something can end doesn't mean you don't still have to work to get to that point. They decided not to tell InuYasha both because they hadn't seen him much in the past days and also because he liked to gloat and trash talk too much. He could inadvertently give away some information that would give Naraku the edge at the worst possible moment.

So it was that the field was occupied by the generation's greatest team of defenders; one hanyou, one demon lord, one small kitsune, one lecherous monk, one demon slayer, one fire cat demon and one untrained miko. It was a motley crew to the untrained eye, but even the elements around them held their breathes in silent respect and appreciation.

And then, the first wave of lower demons broke through the tree line. The war was upon them all.

Without another word, everyone set to work. Kagome dashed to the side, trying to get some distance between herself and the thickest part of the hordes. She would need a good couple of yards to be able to use her arrows to greatest effect. Shippou covered her retreat, blasting the surrounding demons with his newly developed fox fire abilities. He would stay near her during the battle, protecting her flanks from any demon who got too close.

Sango and Miroku chopped their way through the crowd, Sango with her boomerang flashing, slicing through demons with surprising ease, and Miroku with his charged holy staff, beating off demons with skill and style. Kirara covered the two from land and air, ruthlessly destroying all demons who came too near. Sango and Miroku made an amazing fighting team. Their bodies twisted, turned, and thrust in tandem, establishing an intricate and entirely unconscious partnering. They were unaware that to Kagome, from the sidelines, their movements took on a complicated, graceful dance quality, beautiful in its strength. Both had such confidence in their bodies' willingness to obey their every command- there was no hesitance in any strike, no faltering, and no lapse in concentration. When Miroku and Sango fought together all else was pushed aside. They were beautiful demon killing machines.

InuYasha darted in and out effortlessly amongst the demon horde. This part of every battle with Naraku was never thrilling or exciting, it was just tedious and mildly nerve wracking. He and any other demon present would have very little trouble defeating the oncoming youkai as long as they were smart about it and moved with efficiency. He usually just had to remind himself to hold back and conserve energy for the real battle with Naraku, when the bastard finally decided to show his face. No, the real strain came from knowing that one unfortunate strike could seriously injure one of his human companions. Especially Kagome; the girl had a knack for falling down.

InuYasha went to move himself in front of Kagome as he always did, blocking her from the brunt of the swarm's attacks. He discovered, however, that someone else was already standing where he'd wanted to be.

Sesshoumaru had planted himself in front of Kagome, silently offering her his protection. He was a graceful, deadly whirl of flashing blades and icy precision. He was effective and unbeatable. He wasn't even breaking a sweat.

He was in InuYasha's spot.

InuYasha growled and once again wanted to punch through his bastard brother's face to the other side, grab a fistful of hair, and tie it all in a pretty bow around his neck. This could not go on. Something needed to be done. Unfortunately, now was not the time. The jerk may be abrasive and invasive, but he was also handy with a sword.

Muttering to himself, InuYasha fixed his attention back on the demon horde and slew a couple of hundred with his bare claws, just to redirect some of his anger.

Kagome, meanwhile, worked with Shippou to pick off the strays. They weren't the most important fighters on the field, but they definitely contributed to the cause. Shippou was gaining more and more confidence as they progressed. He'd never had the chance to kill so many demons before. This was the best practice of his life. He'd gotten to learn how to moderate his blasts so he wouldn't waste too much energy. As time progressed, Kagome could see that he was getting a feel for concentrating and directing his flames with much more efficiency. She was surprised to see, however, that instead of wearing him out as she'd expected, continued use seemed to make his abilities grow. It didn't seem that he would soon be drained of power.

When she commented on it, in between letting bolts of purifying energy go, Shippou merely grinned and shrugged his shoulders.

"I'd heard that happens sometimes," he said as he blasted a smaller toad youkai to their left, "but I never had a chance to try it out to see for myself. This is great!"

Kagome couldn't help smiling. She was glad he could find something to be enthusiastic about under such difficult circumstances. She knew that even though he kept up his energy and bright outlook, the young kitsune sported several gashes and other assorted cuts along his unprotected arms and parts of his back. Heck, she did, too- nothing serious and nothing she would feel until after the war was over and she was trying to sleep on the hard ground, but her shirt was covered in both her own blood, and the blood of demons slain around her.

The lesser battle raged for what felt like hours to Kagome but was really only around fifteen minutes. It seemed that Naraku only sent the masses of demons to wear them down a little. It was clear that they were not meant to be the main event.

Main event or no, it was still fortunate that Sesshoumaru was there. Combined with InuYasha slashing and mincing more than his fair share of demons and the contributions of the human warriors, the TaiYoukai's efforts shortened the length of the first round considerably. The humans had less to do and InuYasha wasn't overwhelmed.

So it was that the merry band of good doers (and Sesshoumaru) were in much better shape than expected when Naraku burst onto the scene.

The evil hanyou could not restrain his overly theatrical efforts. Kagome knew what he would do under normal circumstances. He would appear in some off center place- either in an unnoticed tree, yelling cryptic remarks and sinister taunts from the highest tree branch as some weird creation or other tried to take their heads off. Or, he would send an army of Naraku dolls after them, hoping to confuse and injure them while staying safe to one side. Or, he'd stride forward, covered in a haunting baboon pelt and shrouded in the deepest of poisonous fogs to yell dire warnings and portents of certain doom, all the while laughing maniacally and reminding them all that he was one bad, bad man.

Kagome did not take Naraku lightly- far from it. He terrified her. He was legitimately insane and severely sick and twisted. She loathed everything about him and wished he would fall off the face of the earth and die for good, taking all his evils, past and present, with him. She wished he'd never existed at all.

That didn't mean she admired his overdone entrances. She would have been more impressed at this point if he'd taken a page from Sesshoumaru's book and simply walked up to them, informed them of their imminent deaths, and then proceeded to follow through on his threats. That would never be the case, however, so Kagome settled in for the first volley of verbal sparring.

Naraku chose to enter in full miasma style. Kagome mentally made a tick on her evil villain check list. Poisonous fog? Check. Overdone intimidation? Check. Now it was time for him to launch into his rant about their inferiority, and how he was going to destroy them all...

"InuYasha, Sesshoumaru, what a pleasant surprise," Naraku began, a sneer fully evident in his overly polite tones. "I was hoping to have two worthy opponents today, but I suppose you will have to do."

'Ahh,' Kagome thought with cynical mirth, the beginnings of proper villain dialogue. Check. She tuned the rest of his diatribe out. It was nothing she needed to hear. She already knew what was coming. Her time was better spent cleaning up Shippou as best she could, tying strips of cloth bandages around some of his more serious injuries. They would heal fine on their own eventually, but if she could reduce the kit's discomfort in the mean time she would.

The male demons continued their exchanges for ten boring minutes. InuYasha was frothing at the mouth in his anger. Naraku was poisonously enjoying the upset he was causing. Even Sesshoumaru participated in the event, making dire promises about Naraku's quickly approaching doom. Was this some sort of weird male ritual? Was trash talking a part of the Y chromosome?

Kagome didn't know for sure, but she found herself shifting from foot to foot impatiently. She even saw Kanna and Kagura approach behind Naraku, battle ready and hardened for a difficult fight. Soon, however, they too began to look bored with the antics of the males around them. Kagura looked as though she'd be filing her nails and painting them idly if she could.

Luckily, Kouga burst on the scene in a flash of speed, his wolf tribe close behind. His arrival threw the others into action. Kouga and kin immediately rushed to attack Kagura in a fit of anger, spurring InuYasha to launch his first attack on Naraku directly.

Kagome saw Sesshoumaru look smugly over to Kouga. He must have known that the wolf demon was fast approaching with reinforcements. He must have been stalling with all his inflammatory remarks, distracting Naraku until back up could arrive to deal with the lesser minions.

Sesshoumaru caught Kagome's eye and smirked a little smirk, as if he knew what she'd been thinking all along. Kagome turned her nose up and to the side, pretending not to see him. He may have known what he was doing, but she knew the others were just talking trash for the sake of annoyance. Besides, she knew Sesshoumaru really enjoyed that sort of battle foreplay and would have participated anyway, even if he hadn't had a secondary purpose behind it.

At this point, things began to look exactly as they had in the mirror. Only this time, Kagome was an active participant in everything around her. She knew exactly why she was doing as she did, and now knew why others acted in similar manners. There was no other way to act.

She saw InuYasha waving his Tessaiga left and right with a fierce determination. He was furious and deadly, his demon side barely restrained by the powers of the sword. He launched attack after attack on Naraku, growling in rage as the evil hanyou's body regenerated itself instantly after each attempt. It was obvious that InuYasha held nothing back, using tooth, nail, and sword to defeat his arch enemy. InuYasha would not be able to continue his efforts indefinitely, but stoically would not let his fatigue get the best of him.

She looked to see Kagura off to one side, deep in a heated battle with Kouga and the entirety of his wolf tribe. The wind witch made a fierce effort to kill those surrounding her. She let loose volley after volley of fierce attacks, desperate to incapacitate her relentless attackers. After a short while, it was obvious she would be lost. She already seemed the worse for wear, obviously sustaining a lot of injury from Kouga's fast and deadly accurate attacks. Kouga and his wolves were not without damage; all bore lacerations from Kagura's wind attacks, but it was apparent that they would soon be victorious. Kanna already lay dead at their feet, her broken mirror still clutched tightly in her hands.

Kagome continued her attacks on remaining youkai with Shippou once more at her side. Miroku and Sango were also on clean up crew, dealing with the bigger and slower youkai who'd come on in a second wave. Their actions freed up the inu brothers to concentrate their full, deadly energy solely on Naraku.

Blades flashed and blows landed. Sesshoumaru whirled and struck with deadly precision while InuYasha's wild and passionate fighting did damage of its own. Once again their astounding and contrasting battle tactics worked to create a beautiful scene of violence. Naraku's tentacles and miasma flowed around them like purely evil water, but their fire and ice made short work of the offending appendages. At first the evil hanyou appeared able to regenerate endlessly, making each attack seem pointless and ultimately fruitless. Kagome would have been discouraged if she hadn't known that Naraku couldn't maintain such parlor tricks forever.

Inch by inch the brothers wore the evil being down, taking a great burden off the worn humans. InuYasha's renewed special attacks combined with the blood lust and power of Sesshoumaru's own sword sealed Naraku's fate. He could no longer keep up his side of the battle. Naraku was weakened.

When one crucial blow from Tessaiga refused to heal, the crew knew success was near at hand.

InuYasha saw his chance and knew what had to be done. Sesshoumaru and InuYasha could slash and maim the hanyou all they liked. They could even kill his body and scatter the pieces until they would never be able to be reassembled. However, some instinct told him that until Naraku was wiped off the face of the earth, they would never be truly free of his influence. He would need to be purified.

He looked to catch Sesshoumaru's eye and motioned towards Kagome while launching yet another attack. Sesshoumaru knew what he was referring to, having seen the end result for himself in the mirror. He nodded his head minutely in understanding.

Sesshoumaru distracted a flailing Naraku with a fearsome whirl of furious attacks while InuYasha leapt towards Kagome. He reached the young miko's side, swiping a couple of miscellaneous demons that were still advancing on her, and caught her attention.

"Kagome!" he yelled, pulling her into his arms, "Naraku's weak! You can take him now! It's time to purify the bastard!"

"Okay!" Kagome yelled back with determined eagerness, ready to finish this battle once and for all. It had all led up to this moment, and she was ready.

She raised her head with a fierce look in her eyes, staring at the writhing and fighting demon who'd caused so much pain. She touched the deepest reaches of her dormant powers as she prepared to launch a massive purification effort at the evil and weakened being before her.

InuYasha held her close as he leapt and dodged around less important foes, eyes never wavering from the final goal. Naraku would die today, he was sure of it.

He set Kagome down on the field as close as he could, out of the reach of Naraku's grasp but still in range for her bow. Then, in a great show of trust, he dashed to resume the fight down range from her, keeping Naraku busy so he wouldn't turn his attentions to Kagome.

This was it. Kagome had seen herself doing this and knew she was capable of it. She knew that from this moment on, though her friends were fighting bravely and doing everything in their power to defeat him, Naraku's death must ultimately come from her hand.

She raised her arm and bow up to shoulder level, drawing deep breaths and even deeper power. She was tired and sore, and blood from little cuts on her forehead threatened to drip into her eyes, but she would not falter. She would do what she must, what she had, what she would. Time and all its loops swirled through her mind, making the moment far more surreal.

She loosed the arrow from her quiver with a practiced motion, said a quick prayer over it, and concentrated all her powers into its head. Then, slowly and smoothly, Kagome brought the fateful arrow to her bow, ready to begin.

The tip glowed faintly, a sad little pink hue that wouldn't kill a lesser youkai. For a moment it looked like she might not be strong enough to complete her task after all. She began to be worried. What if the mirror was wrong?

However, she noticed she'd gained Naraku's undivided attention. He still did battle with the two demon brothers, but his words were for her alone.

She couldn't hear what he said. The blood was pounding too harshly in her ears. She was more concerned about her aim than about anything the vile monster could possibly say to her. She couldn't miss, however, the look he directed at her.

He didn't think she could do it. He thought she was weak, that she would fail, that she would let down her friends and the whole world and allow him victory today.

That would not happen. Naraku's mocking expression and unheard taunts seemed to give her a renewed sense of determination. It helped to bring her powers up to a much greater level, spurred by her emotion. Soon, instead of seeing red, Kagome began to see pink.

The arrow was released and flew strait and true. A blaze of pink power seared in its wake, eradicating several lesser demons through proximity alone.

Naraku was struck straight through the heart with a bolt of the strongest purity, a look of deepest disbelief lining his twisted features. His shriek of agony caused those nearest him to cover their ears in self defense.

The allies looked on as Kagome's arrow purified the evil hanyou of all its demonic powers, producing a bolt of blinding light that surrounded their enemy. Flesh stripped form bones in a furnace blast of power and horrible stench. Naraku flailed his arms as the last of his bastardized demonic presence flew away, scattering to the winds, leaving nothing more than a burned, scarred human body behind. Naraku's true human form, as it appeared before he made his terrible deal with demons, lay battered and festering on the field before them.

The blast caused the lower youkai, still busy tormenting Miroku, Sango, and Kouga, to flee in terror. They wanted nothing to do with anything that could destroy a hanyou like Naraku so thoroughly.

Kagome slumped to the ground, completely exhausted. Dust and ash settled around her as a cloud of residue, free and purified of all evil, rained down on all present.

InuYasha strode over to the human Naraku's burnt and battered form. It resembled less a human and more a shriveled leech. This was Onigumo, the man whose hatred and evil destroyed his life? This was the human whose obsession with Kikyou had led to both their betrayals? This was the exact form that had been capable of the greatest of evils, just to satisfy his own twisted lust for power?

He didn't deserve the mercy of death, but he would get it anyway. Without a pause or a thought for remorse, InuYasha slashed the head from Onigumo's body, ending his miserable existence forever. He was free.

He saw a small, blackened jewel resting near the remains. The other half of the Shikon no Tama; Kagome would be needing this. InuYasha picked up the jewel and turned to give it to the young miko across the field.

Sango and Miroku had rushed to Kagome's side while Kouga headed off to see to his wolves. Many of them had been injured in the fight. Not all of them would survive the day. Miroku currently held Kagome steady as Sango looked her over for any severe injuries, giddy in her relief that they'd won.

As the news of their victory slowly seeped into Kagome's awareness, she began to share in their excitement. Soon she was jumping up and down, giddy in her glee, ignoring her own fatigue in this moment of celebration. What they'd worked so hard for was finally theirs.

Sesshoumaru stood on the sidelines, watching everyone around him. It was over. He felt elated after the fierce battle, muscles sated and strained from their long periods of exertion. He'd come out of this important battle completely unscathed. He stood tall and proud, barely breathing heavily after all his exertion. It would have appeared to any casual passer-by as if slaughtering countless lower youkai and one near-immortal evil hanyou were part of his morning work out. Sweat dripped from his brow and his usually impeccable clothes were wrinkled and torn in spots several spots. They too sported large quantities of blood, none of it his own.

He knew full well what would come next.

Slowly and deliberately he began to move across the field to where Kagome stood. He could feel the force of InuYasha's glare as he approached, but knew his brother would be powerless to stop him. It was time for him to get his reward for his participation in the afternoon's festivities. He'd ultimately been there for one reason and one reason only.

He'd seen to the safety of his mate.

He laughed silently at the faces on the monk and demon slayer. They gaped like idiots, completely surprised out of their wits that he was approaching them. Undoubtedly they'd thought he'd disappear into the forest when everything was finished as he usually did.

Kagome, too, turned her lovely eyes up to his face. He was upset and angered when he saw her own blood attempting to blind her, trickling from a couple of cuts on her forehead. A cursory glance, however, told him he hadn't failed. She had minor injuries, but she would be fine.

Without a word he quickly gathered the surprised young miko into his arms. She didn't resist- she'd known from the beginning this was going to happen. He could tell from the lack of fear or tension in her body, and by her increasingly appealing scent, that she'd begun to anticipate this moment as well.

With a final small smirk, he pulled her in, close to his chest, and looked down at her open and pleased expression. The bystanders' shock only grew as Sesshoumaru slowly raised his hand to her soft cheek, caressing it gently.

The after affects of the great battle surrounded everyone. The littering of demon corpses served to prove what all knew; it was a miracle they'd all survived unscathed. It would have taken so little for this beautiful creature in his arms to have come to harm. He couldn't have handled that. Sesshoumaru's control seemed to slip as the instinct to celebrate survival overpowered him.

He suddenly swooped in to place a passionate and relieved kiss upon Kagome' upturned mouth, oblivious to the upset his actions were causing.

Kissing her like this, filled with longing, relief, and a protective passion, was nothing like watching it happen in the mirror. The softness of her lips under his pierced through to the deepest portions of his neglected heart. The steady feeling of her living heartbeat was so soothing and reassuring that if he were a lesser being, he'd have become emotional. As it was, he settled for pouring all he felt into that one, beautiful, confirmation of a kiss.

Kagome was almost overwhelmed by the depth of his passion. She'd seen parts of Sesshoumaru that no one would have believed, but even she sometimes doubted that he'd be able to love her the way she needed to be loved. This kiss, however, removed all doubt. She couldn't help participating and reciprocating enthusiastically, meeting each of his movements with equal fervor. Her hands came up to grasp around his head, her fingers locked into his cascading hair. All dirt, blood, and sweat were ignored in that desperate, life affirming kiss.

All too soon, however, Kagome became aware of exactly where she was, and who was still around to watch. Without looking around, Kagome broke the kiss, cheeks flushing as she closed her eyes in embarrassment. She'd known it was coming, had prepared herself for this eventuality, and had even coached herself on her reactions, but none of it had mattered in the end. She simply decided to opt out for the moment, content to be resting against Sesshoumaru, hiding her face against his chest in gentle mortification. She wasn't ashamed of what she'd done- what she would continue to do as often as possible- she just didn't want to see what was going on around her.

If she had looked, she would have seen Sango and Miroku, having recovered their senses remarkably quickly, keeping an irate InuYasha at bay with threats, entreaties, and determined physical force.

She would also have seen a gentle smirk, really more of a contented smile, on the face of Sesshoumaru, as he gloated over the individual effects he'd had on all present.

* * *

A/N: Whew, that chapter was precisely 45 longer than the average chapter, just so you know.

Also, the hit count is now over 16,000. I don't know why this pleases me so much, but it does.

Also, most importantly, I have art for you. It's amazing, it's glorious, it makes me so happy. Find the links in my profile, okay?

Next chapter probably will be the epilogue, since I guess you could call this the last chapter of how Sesshoumaru and Kagome got together. The epilogue will be tying up loose ends.


	12. Epilogue

Mirrored Future

By Amazonian21

Epilogue

* * *

Kagome stood still and stared pensively into her outstretched palm, a look of apprehension and deep dread etched onto her face. A small object, no bigger than a golf ball, stared innocuously back up at her, glowing with a suspicious pink cheeriness as if denying its inherent danger. It was time to dispose of the Shikon no Tama, and Kagome was scared to death.

This was the moment they'd fought for. This little piece of rock was the thing they'd bled, cried, and nearly died to obtain and neutralize. Now after all these years she held it in her little hands, whole and complete, and was expected to make the wish that would rid the world of the jewel's influence forever.

At that moment, Kagome hated democracy. All her now former friends had silently pushed her forward towards InuYasha as he held the tainted half towards her. Once she'd received and purified the half and then joined the stone back to its original form, those same pushy hands disappeared with remarkable haste behind their owners' backs. One by one her companions had shifted their feet, kicked the dirt, and whistled nonchalantly as the wouldn't meet her eyes, all looking like guilty school children looking to avoid yard work. They acted as if hoping that ignoring the situation would make it go away.

Well, fine, then. If they were going to be like that, she'd take care of it herself. None of them wanted to take the responsibility off her hands? Then she'd just have to find the perfect wish, the one unselfish wish that would end it all.

Kagome wanted to sit down and cry. She had absolutely no idea of what to do.

She could feel their eyes on her surreptitiously and could feel their trust and confidence in her like a nagging itch prickling her skin. They had so much faith in her abilities and so much confidence that she would be able to make a wish unselfishly. It was daunting.

How could they think that of her? Didn't they know that not so very long ago she would still be bitter and angsty over InuYasha? Didn't they know that deep in her heart she would have done anything to get him to love her? Didn't they know she would have, accidentally of course, wished that Kikyou had never existed? How could they give her this responsibility, when she was so unworthy?

She looked to Sesshoumaru in a silent plea for help. She didn't want this job. She didn't want their faith. She was tired and sore and she was still bleeding. She just wanted to hand the stone over to someone stronger and go take a much deserved nap.

Sesshoumaru met her gaze and read most of her thoughts on her tired, careworn face. He wasn't used to the feelings of concern that rose in him when he saw how weary his mate was. If he could have taken the stone from her cradled hands and crushed it into a fine powder, never to bother them again, he would have. He would have done almost anything to ease the strain from his little miko's shoulders. But this job was for her and her alone. He couldn't be her hands, but he would be her strength.

He held her gaze unflinchingly, golden eyes steady and strengthening. He put all the resolve and certainty he could into his expression, letting her know he had every confidence that she could do what needed to be done, and that he was right here beside her while she did it.

He also set his lips into a grim smile and folded his arms, clearly stating he wasn't going to let her off the hook. He knew she could do it, she had to do it no matter what, so she might as well get on with it already.

Sighing in a mixture of exasperation and strengthening resolve, Kagome squashed the urge to stick her tongue out at the TaiYoukai and instead steeled herself for the ultimate wish.

Her companions held their collective breaths as Kagome concentrated. All knew that the jewel responded to the desires of the one who wielded it. This was why Kagome now held the jewel and the responsibility for its destruction. She had little faith in herself, but her friends all knew she was the most pure and unselfish amongst them.

Thoughts raced through her head in waves of dizzying pictures. She thought about all she wished, all she wanted, all she hoped for her friends. Her emotions and desires swept through her without words, undefined by something so limited as language. She operated on pure instinct and intuition, letting all she wished for flow through her being, complete and entire, leaving no room for mistake or misunderstanding.

She thought of Sango, crying over the slain form of her brother, cruelly killed before her eyes by Naraku those years before. She thought of Miroku, cringing in pain as he used his cursed wind tunnel to absorb too many poisonous insects. She thought of the villagers who had lost their lives because of Naraku's evil. She thought of InuYasha and Kikyou, doomed because of their distrust and Naraku's horrible treachery.

She wished it hadn't happened, but did not wish for the past to be undone. Painful as it was, all that had occurred prior to this moment had made them the people they were today. Experience had taught them lessons that could not be learned any other way. Every moment, every agonizing and tear filled second, had made each one of them that much more amazing. It wasn't fun or pleasant, and Kagome wouldn't wish a second round on anybody, but she could not wish it for them to go back in time to relive a pain-free life.

She could, however, wish for those who'd been most effected by Naraku's evil to get a second chance for happiness for the future, free from the evil hanyou's influence.

Without so many words, using pure emotion and desire, Kagome conveyed these thoughts to the crystal in her hands. The wish was made.

The jewel shone with a dazzling pink brilliance, glowing until all present had to shield their eyes from its intensity. Slowly, it rose from Kagome's hands, hovering in the air over the small group. With a blinding flash and a wave of power that knocked everyone off their feet, the jewel exploded, its molecule-fine aura dispersing as far as the eye could see, covering the world with its healing powers.

For a moment, there was silence. No one moved. Nature herself took a breath, feeling that things were suddenly much better than they'd been just moments before. It was an undefinable and yet very noticeable shift in everyone's hearts and minds.

To InuYasha, Sango, Miroku, and Kagome it felt as if a million tiny wounds they hadn't even acknowledged had suddenly been healed over, leaving tiny, pain-free scars. The marks would always be there, but no longer had the power to cause agony.

The collected group of heros slowly rose to their feet, eyeing each other as if seeking answers to an unanswerable question. What was different? What did this mean for them?

Miroku was the first to supply them with an idea of where to start looking. With a cry of joy, he removed the now useless rosary from his newly curse-free palm, baring the appendage to the sunlight for the first time in his whole life. He was free from the fear of never being able to love someone as he desired for fear of passing on his burden to a new generation of children. He was free of the knowledge of his own, horrible death being sucked into his own hand. He was free to choose a future for himself without a madman's curse debilitating him every step of the way. His eyes lit up with pure joy, lighting his face in a manner it had never been lit before.

Sango, who'd rushed forward at the sound of his delighted yell, stopped short as she saw a lone figure emerging from the woods. All else was forgotten as she rushed towards the young man who'd begun to run for her. With a cry of joy and tears running down her face, she tackled her younger brother, momentarily blinded by the fierceness of her joy. He was whole and living again, free from the control of an evil hanyou, and given another shot at living with his loving, loyal older sister. The siblings embraced joyously, thankful to be together once more.

Simultaneously, InuYasha caught whiff of a familiar scent, one he hadn't smelled in over fifty years...

With a gasp of surprise he turned and saw the one person who'd haunted his dreams, even while pinned unconscious to a tree, walking towards him with an expression of surprised wonder on her face. She was very much alive and carrying no trace of minerals or death in her scent. Her eyes were clear and happy, no longer shadowed and sunken with the weight of her soul's bitter burdens. She was truly his Kikyou, the real Kikyou, the Kikyou he'd stayed loyal to even when it was harder than dying would have been. She was hurrying to meet his outstretched and surprised arms with dawning joy and happiness clear on her relaxed and relieved face. It was the miko as she was meant to be, no embittered copy of her shattered and despairing soul.

Kagome watched as her friend streaked past in a blaze of red, sweeping Kikyou into his arms in a crushing hug. She winced in sympathy for the girl; she'd probably have bruised ribs in the morning.

Kagome gave a small sigh of contented happiness as her back came to rest against a strengthening presence behind her. She felt a strong arm wrap around her shoulder from behind, coming to rest in a comforting embrace across her chest. Her own opposite arm came up to clasp over his, hugging him back even as he hugged her, and she lay her head into the crook of his neck. She was grateful for his presence. A few weeks ago, seeing Kikyou and InuYasha like that would have broken her heart and left her slinking off to the well house, desperate to escape to her own time. Seeing InuYasha happy, really happy for the first time ever, in the arms of her old rival, would nearly have killed Kagome.

But that was then, and this was now. With Sesshoumaru at her back, a silent presence comforting her in ways beyond all words, she could feel genuine relief and happiness for her friends. It still hurt more than she would have liked to know that she and InuYasha never would have become what she'd wanted them to become, but she could move past that. She could let it go and begin anew, working on a new life with new prospects. She too had been given a second chance.

Now, without any lingering bitterness or regret, she could watch as Sango and Miroku kissed passionately, pressed tightly together, as Shippou and Kohaku pretended to gag at the sight. She could laugh aloud as Miroku got his first legitimate grope of Sango's behind without getting a simultaneous hand print on his face. She could be pleased with the happy blush that infused Sango's face as she realized that the humiliating attention that had been fixed on Kagome earlier had now transferred to her. It was her turn to hide away in Miroku's robe as the monk smirked and smiled proudly for all to see. It wouldn't be long before there was a wedding to celebrate in addition to the defeat of Naraku.

Kagome could also smile, albeit a little sadly, as InuYasha led Kikyou into the woods without even glancing back at her as they went away. It was a new era for them all, and today would be the first day of the rest of their lives. She figured they would all have much to discuss.

Suddenly, Kagome whirled as she was spun around to come face to face with a seriously intent TaiYoukai. It was clear that her moments of contemplation were over. Sesshoumaru had allowed her a few moments to spare some thought for her friends, but now he was ready to claim her full attention.

Without a single word, Sesshoumaru took a page from his brother's book and grabbed Kagome's hand. He drew her up close to his body and grasped her around her middle, effectively sweeping her off the forest floor. Ignoring her questions and shriek of surprise, he sped off into the forest with his mate, leaving a laughing Sango and Miroku behind.

There was much to be said, and none of it fit for the ears or eyes of others.

* * *

Elsewhere, a wolf demon watched the exchange between Sesshoumaru and Kagome and watched the TaiYoukai drag his woman off into the forest. His first instinct was to chase after them and make a play for Kagome's hand, but suddenly it didn't seem like much fun. It might have had to do with a new feeling of maturity and freedom that came after defeating a dangerous enemy. It might have had to do with remembering he had a wolf princess waiting for him to claim her as mate. It might have to with remembering that Sesshoumaru wore no restraining rosary to save him if things got out of hand. Whatever the case, Kouga gave a final wave of farewell to Kagome's retreating figure as he turned to speed off to new adventures.

Elsewhere, an excited hanyou held his beloved miko and discussed many things. In low whispers, interspersed with lingering caresses and heated looks, they talked of love, and trust, and all the years and the weight of suspicion. They talked of new loves and new hope, and of moving slowly from here on out, taking time to relearn everything they'd only thought they'd known about the other. They talked of forgiveness, and a slow rebuilding for the future. And for them, things were a brighter shade of happy than either could ever remember feeling. It was the feeling of true hope and freedom, unrestrained by inexperience or fear. They now had a real chance, and the wisdom to know how to take it.

* * *

Sesshoumaru and Kagome moved on, oblivious to the moments and feelings of all others. This time was theirs, and they would take it in each other.

They came to a stop in a small, isolated clearing. Kagome couldn't tell for sure how far they'd come, but she had a pretty good idea that they'd be out of range of any curious bystander. She was all alone in the big, bad woods, with her very own big, bad inu youkai.

She had no idea of what to expect when he slowly began to lower her back to her feet. She realized they'd ended up on the banks of a small stream. The ground surrounding them was spongy and soft, and the woods around her emitted a calming, soothing atmosphere that made her able to relax, even in the presence of the unsettling demon lord.

Sesshoumaru watched with interest as Kagome knelt to scoop some water into her hands, bringing the clear liquid up to her lips for a long drink. Once her thirst was satisfied, the girl sat with a small, contented sigh, leaning back onto her arms and looking up at the stoic youkai who still stood in front of her.

"I should be thinking and worrying about a lot of things right now," she began, shutting her eyes lazily and letting the breeze caress her face, "but I can't bring myself to. It's too beautiful here, and there's a lot to be grateful for."

"Yes, there is," Sesshoumaru said, coming to stand behind the miko. When her eyes remained shut he sank down to his own knees before coming to rest fully behind her, one leg to either side of her small form. With his good arm he pulled on her gently until she came to rest against him, her head to his chest.

"I feel like I should be watching over my friends, sharing in their joy and showing them how happy I am for all the good things that have happened today," she said, leaning her head all the way back until it rested fully on his shoulder.

"They'll be fine without you," he said with a small smile, brushing her bangs away from her forehead. "I trust they don't need your permission to be happy," he continued, gently stroking her hair.

"No, they don't," Kagome agreed, relaxing further into his touch. "It just feels like this couldn't have been the end. It's just too soon and so sudden."

Sesshoumaru arched his eyebrow down at her in question. "Four years wasn't long enough for you?" he wondered idly.

Kagome opened one eye and squinted up at him with half a glare before giving up and going back to closing her eyes.

"That's not it at all," she said, becoming drowsy. "Maybe it was too long. All this time, all this build up, all this tension and worry, and now Naraku is really dead. Now I made the right wish and the jewel's gone. Miroku's free, Sango has her brother, and InuYasha can start over." She paused thoughtfully for a moment, trying to pinpoint exactly why she still felt so restless. "It just seems like for so long we were fighting a fight that had no end in sight. And we were so tired most of the time, and so worried. It was all we lived for. We all gave up so much. And now we don't have any lives outside our quest, and the quest's over. What are we supposed to do now?"

Kagome wanted some sort of reassurance that everything would be fine. She wanted someone to tell her that her friends would always be by her side, happy now that they were beginning their second chances. She wanted someone to offer her pure, clear, solid comfort.

Sesshoumaru didn't know what the future would bring. Frankly, it was no concern of his. They had the mirror, of course, and could ask it anything they wanted since Kagome was to be his mate, but he didn't really want to know. Knowing too much about your future limited your choices, and he didn't want any limitations imposed on him if he could avoid them.

He didn't know what words she wanted to hear. Words were never his strong point. Words were the greatest lie of all. There was no way to articulate the pure range of thought and emotion that flowed through his mind and body. There was no way to verbally reassure her that he would be there for her now, with her, beside her, forever, because she was his. She was his and he was hers, and that was the way it always would be because it always had been.

So he did what any youkai would do in his position. He saw that his mate still had some cuts that bled slowly on her face and arms. He would tend to her, comfort her, heal her, and show her that they didn't need to know what to do now. They'd end up doing it anyway.

Kagome's eyes blinked open wide when she felt the first swipe of his rough tongue across her forehead. It was a rasping and warm pressure, one that sent tingles all the way across her body, ending in her poor, overloaded toes. What was he doing?

"Sesshoumaru?" she questioned, half squeaking with the unexpected, though not unwelcome, contact. "What are you doing?"

Sesshoumaru paused in his ministrations and moved lower until his voice brushed against her ear, sending shock waves straight along her very awake nervous system.

"You talk too much," he said in a low growl that made her neck vibrate and her heart skip a beat.

"So I've been told," Kagome said breathlessly. She wouldn't be talking much more tonight, she could tell. She wouldn't have her wits about her enough to string together a sentence.

Sesshoumaru slowly began to clean her many scrapes and lacerations again, licking each wound from end to end, removing the dried blood and dirt. He stopped only when small amounts of fresh, clean blood rose to the surface of the abused flesh, content that they would now begin to heal quickly and thoroughly. The healing properties inherent in youkai saliva was a useful thing in many instances.

He gave her whole face and neck the same attention, thoroughly going over every inch of Kagome's exposed, battle torn body, satisfying himself that she would heal and soon be back to her normal, healthy self. It was a new experience for him to be healing somebody. Usually he was the cause of their wounds, not the solution to them. He found he didn't mind the change of pace in the least.

He couldn't stand to see her sore in any way, not if he could bring her any relief. And tending to her in this manner was strangely satisfying. He'd never done this for another. His own wounds healed very quickly, by and large, and there had never been another he'd been close enough to share such intimacy with. Youkai were not big on social grooming. Still, he was guided by instinct, and his instincts told him to shelter and comfort the miko in front of him, keeping her close to his body and nuzzling all the flesh he could get his hands on.

Kagome felt herself utterly soothed and relaxed. Now she knew why cats loved to be petted. This was so warm, so comforting, so intimate. It was the best answer she could have received.

She sat with her head pooled against his body, feeling as though she'd turned into one pile of languid goo. His hair flowed softly around her as he bent his head over her body, covering her like a curtain from the world. A soft vibration came rumbling through his chest, further soothing her as he dipped and bent, covering each inch and focusing all his attention on her unresisting, happy form.

"Who must I speak to about claiming you?" Sesshoumaru asked, once Kagome was attended to and resting sleepily in his lap.

"My mother and grandfather," she answered sleepily, stifling a yawn behind a lazy hand. "If the well still works, that is," Kagome said, sitting up abruptly.

She'd forgotten about the well! She hadn't disappeared once the jewel was destroyed and Naraku was dead, but that didn't mean she wasn't stuck here instead of at home in her own time! How could she have forgotten?

"I have to get to the well!" Kagome yelled, scrambling to her feet over the grumbling protests of a disgruntled TaiYoukai. He didn't want to leave the confined of their closeness, especially when the serious matter of mating had not yet been addressed.

Kagome, however, would not be detained. "I have to make sure I can still get to see my family!" she said, beginning to dash off in the wrong direction.

Sesshoumaru fluidly rose to his feet and rolled his eyes. Honestly, the girl was always overreacting about something, and had the worst woodsman ship he'd ever run across. He bet she'd get lost in her own sleeping bag if given the chance.

Without another word Sesshoumaru darted forward and scooped her into his arm, once again carrying her away more quickly than she could have walked. He headed off in the right direction, moving towards the well that would hopefully take him to speak to her family for the right to claim Kagome as mate. Not that they'd dare refuse him, of course.

They were soon standing at the edge of the well, holding hands tightly while staring down into its mysterious depths. Kagome didn't sense any great change in the atmosphere around her; it still buzzed with a low hum of mystical power. That was definitely a good sign.

She looked towards Sesshoumaru once more, again getting strength and courage from his mere presence. She held her breath and gave his hand a light squeeze before letting go, moving to step towards the edge.

Sesshoumaru held his breath as well, unconsciously mimicking her nervous action. He had to physically restrain himself from stopping her. He knew she would worry about her family, and that she would want to make sure the well still worked. He also knew that he shouldn't be able to pass through, or hadn't been able to in the past.

But if the well no longer worked and if she weren't pulled into the river of time, she would hit that well's deep bottom unprotected. She could really get hurt, and that wasn't something he could allow.

With lightning fast reflexes and superhuman speed, Sesshoumaru darted towards the well's edge and caught Kagome before she could take the final step over. He looked into her eyes, concern etched on his features, as he wordlessly held her to him and jumped himself. He took her with him deep into the well, figuring that the well would take her and reject him.

He was surprised, however, when the flashing blue lights engulfed both miko and youkai in a familiar blaze, taking them far into the future, into another world entirely. He had made it through to Kagome's time.

Kagome turned to him and beamed, surprised and happy that he'd been able to make the trip. She'd been worried when he grabbed her, thinking he'd changed his mind about letting her see her family. At the very least she'd been worried that the well would reject them both because of his presence.

This was all very reassuring, however. Kagome smiled some more and leaned in to give him an enthusiastic hug, laughing in delight.

"It worked! It worked!" she cried, doing a little dance in place at Sesshoumaru's side. "I'm home! I can come home and still go back," she said, unaware of the discomfort her shouting was causing the uncomplaining demon at her side because of his heightened hearing abilities. He stoically bore it, however, mentally congratulating him for his restraint and longsuffering. The things he did for this woman...

Unconsciously, his arm tightened around her as a thought entered his head unbidden. He was in her time. Where her family lived. He was in her time, with her family, and would now have to ask some puny humans for permission to mate their miko daughter.

The reality of the situation suddenly struck him full force. He was about to mate a human forever. And he doubted that she knew it would be for that long. Who would have told her that once mated, youkai share their live spans with their mates? It was a closely guarded secret. Not many youkai relished the idea of nearly immortal humans, or tragically short lived youkai. Should Kagome die in an accident, Sesshoumaru would soon follow. And if Sesshoumaru should live for a thousand years, Kagome would be right by his side, chattering away for the whole millennia while he stared and wondered what he'd gotten himself into.

How? How had this happened? How had he suddenly developed a very permanent attachment to a very human girl? How had he come to her time, to these ends, to this path for his life?

Damned mirror. For a moment, Sesshoumaru cursed its existence. If it weren't for the vision they'd shared in the glass, Sesshoumaru would have walked away from the field today completely unaffected by everything and everyone on it. He would have continued along as he always had on a solitary routine path, in a normal, regulated, unexciting life.

He wouldn't have had any strange twists or turns. No surprising revelations about his own character. No new and odd affections to turn his head and broaden his senses. No little mikos to hold and caress and protect...

With these thoughts, Sesshoumaru growled a little low in his throat and pulled Kagome even closer into his side. He couldn't regret anything. He couldn't wish away this woman, not when fate had worked so hard to bring her here. He liked her. He needed her. He wanted everything about her. No, this was a path he could and would follow through to the end.

He turned to look down at the miko, meeting her beautiful eyes half way. She was gazing up at him, trying to decipher the dazed and far off look on his face. It was a new look for him, one she wanted very much to catalogue. So far she knew the 'please shut up,' look, the 'I'm not going to laugh even if it is funny,' look, the 'I'm about to destroy something,' look, and a couple of other repeat offenders. She still had a long ways to go towards knowing them all, especially since they were all slight variations on a common theme.

"Are you ready to go?" Kagome asked him, unaware that this was indeed the question of the hour.

Sesshoumaru paused for a moment, continuing his search of her face. The moment stretched on until it became a very long moment indeed, but neither one broke the eye contact or rushed through. Moments are over too soon, after all. They shouldn't be rushed.

Finally, Sesshoumaru came to a decision.

"Yes," he said, in all simplicity, and that was all the answer either of them needed.

* * *

A/N: Yes, that's the end. This was just a story of how two crazy kids got together, not an epic adventure of what they did for the rest of their lives. I don't have that much stamina.

Thanks for the support, you guys. I flaked out on the last round of reviews. Boo... what a lame-o, eh?

Over 20,000 views. Not that it matters to anyone but me. But it still sort of does.

I love you all. I love that I finished it. I love lamp. Catch you on the flip side; many happy returns.


	13. Addendum

Mirrored Future

Addendum

By Amazonian 21

A/N: Just a little add on to tie up some loose ends.

* * *

Item 1: InuYasha

InuYasha sat with his hands folded in his haori, staring at the well, waiting for one particular figure to emerge. The scene was so familiar and so routine that for a moment a dizzying wave of time hit him and left him disoriented. Today could have been two months ago, two years ago, any of a hundred nights where he'd sat just as he was sitting now, waiting for this same woman to return to him from her own time.

Only this time, she wasn't returning to him. She was returning to his bastard brother, a thought that still made the hairs on the back of his neck rise and his anger levels spike. He didn't think he'd ever be truly reconciled to the way things turned out.

Time had happened to their little family group, as it always did, and brought such great changes to all their lives that it was no use pretending things were still simple and routine. The little band of shard hunters had morphed and changed from destroyers to survivors after the defeat of Naraku. Instead of fighting for the death of their common enemy, they were now building new lives for themselves, filled with the potential for future peace and happiness.

It was hard to know that Kagome was now forever beyond his reach. InuYasha and Kagome had been dancing around each other for so long. They had become the best of friends. There were times when InuYasha's very thoughts sounded through his head in Kagome's voice. She meant so much to him.

InuYasha was blissfully happy that he had a second chance to begin a new life with Kikyou, his soul mate, but the suddenness of this reversal still left him reeling. Over the space of a very, very short time, Kagome had gone from a friend with sexual tension to the mate of his evil bastard brother. And InuYasha had gone from her protector and love interest to being bound to the woman she'd been reincarnated from. It was quite a mental shift to go from desiring somebody to denying harboring any residual feelings for them. Secretly, in a deep portion of his soul, he'd always expected them to end up together, if Kikyou hadn't returned to him. He had to remind himself that was no longer an option, and that things were better this way.

It was harder than he'd expected, especially since they'd never really had a chance to say goodbye. Everything had happened so quickly. Kagome and Sesshoumaru's relationship had snuck up on them all, the love birds included. Kikyou's return to life had been just as sudden. He didn't feel prepared for any of this. A window to his past still remained open, and he needed to shut that so he could move more fully into the future, keeping Kagome near him as a friend. He never wanted to lose her friendship. She was too important to him.

And now he was waiting in his usual spot, looking for the flash of light that would herald her return so she could be by his side again, even if only for a short time.

His ears twitched and his heart leapt a little when he first sensed her presence. Without waiting for her to climb all the way to the top, InuYasha jumped down the well, grabbed a hold of Kagome, and jumped straight back up into the moonlight, chuckling to himself at her surprised shrieks of outrage.

"Jeeze, InuYasha! Can't you warn a girl first?" Kagome shouted, once she was safely back on her own two feet.

"Keh," he replied, enjoying bothering her again. It had been entirely too long. Sesshoumaru was so damned protective of the miko that he never got to have fun anymore. One wrong step, even the thought of one wrong step, and his stupid brother was growling like he'd rip his arms off. It was depressing.

"It's not my fault you're such a puny human and scare so easy," he prodded, hoping she'd rise to his baiting. He wasn't disappointed.

"Ooooh, why you..!" Kagome spluttered, trying to think of a creative enough word to blast her hanyou friend with.

"Oh, what are you gonna do, bitch, cry?" InuYasha taunted, lost in the pure enjoyment of annoying Kagome. She just made it so easy, and turned the best shades of red. It really had been too long. Kikyou never fell for his taunts, and after a while he'd stopped wanting to try.

"No!" Kagome yelled, getting a wicked look in her eyes. "Something better!" She was eyeing his neck with a self satisfied expression.

Suddenly InuYasha realized his mistake. He still wore the subduing rosary. In all the commotion and emotional upheaval of the last few months, no one had thought to remove it.

He began to shake his head and move back, holding his hands in front as if to ward her off.

"Oh no," he said, moving to put distance between them, "Don't you freaking dare!"

His instincts were telling him to make a break for it but he held back. He knew from experience that he'd only leave skid marks in the ground when he came crashing down on the run.

"InuYasha," Kagome drawled, reveling in her power, "SIT!"

The hanyou hit the ground with a resounding thud, face planting into the grass with an audible 'whump!'

"Damn it!" he yelled, spluttering and pulling against the restraint, but his efforts seemed almost half hearted to Kagome. He wasn't snarling or threatening her life the way he usually did. He didn't seem as mad with the subduing this time around…

With a start, Kagome realized why. She hadn't 'sat' InuYasha in ages. She'd been far too busy with Sesshoumaru and their budding relationship. InuYasha and Kikyou had always been off by themselves, anyway, even if Kagome had been in camp with the others. They never saw each other any more. Maybe InuYasha had missed this symbol of their ties, their own personal spell that only existed for the two of them. He didn't seem to mind this reminder of simpler times.

But this connection couldn't last forever. She didn't have the right to this sort of control over him anymore. And, they didn't really need it. He wasn't going to be her traveling companion from here on out. Their quest was done. They had to move on with their lives, and she had to give up her claim on him.

When the spell wore off, InuYasha stood to find Kagome staring at him with a small look of sadness, a little hint of a bittersweet glance hovering over her mouth and eyes. He'd been preparing to blast her with another round of crankiness but was brought up short when he could see her small tears clinging to the corner of her lashes.

He wanted to pretend he didn't know what she was thinking about. In the past he would have called her a ninny for crying after sitting him, pretending to believe she was concerned she'd hurt him. He would have gruffly told her to stop with the water works because he was too strong to ever be hurt by her anyway, and would have pestered her until she was annoyed enough to forget she'd been feeling sad.

But now was not the time for such things. This was the only chance they'd have for a private moment. Kikyou was helping Kaede tend to some sick villagers and was in quarantine for the next day or so. Sesshoumaru was retrieving Rin and Jaken from his stronghold. There would not be another time for Kagome and InuYasha to say what needed to be said for a long time to come.

Knowing this didn't make InuYasha any more eager to start spilling his guts. He hated these emotional confrontations. They were always so sloppy, and someone always got upset, and someone (not naming any names) always put his foot in his mouth and made someone else cry. This was such a pain in the butt, but he needed to talk to her.

Kagome could tell his thoughts were following along the same lines as hers. She also knew he'd stand there looking miserable until she did something herself.

She did know him better than anyone else, after all. It had been four years of a very intense friendship.

She sighed and stepped forward, resting her hand on his arm. With another little sigh, she reached up to finger the rosary. InuYasha's eyes never left her face.

"I guess it's time for this to come off, huh?" she said, moving to clasp the necklace in both hands.

InuYasha surprised himself by stopping her, putting his hands over hers and holding her in place. He had known it would come but suddenly couldn't bear for it to happen.

"What are you doing?" he almost whined, not letting her move.

"I have to," Kagome said, not meeting his eyes. It felt like there was a new wall of sadness suddenly sprung between them. She didn't like this symbol of their changing relationship- it felt too much like breaking up or cutting him out of her life- but it had to be done.

"Why?" InuYasha said, almost whining. He hated the way this was feeling. It felt horrible, like he was going to lose his best friend in the world. This necklace was what kept them bound together. If she took it off it would be like setting him adrift to face the world on his own, without her near him. It would be admitting that things had changed forever and that they could never go back to how they were. He knew it was true, and knew things really had irrevocably changed to a great extent, but how could he let the past go? He'd never been good at that.

"InuYasha," Kagome said, almost pleading. This was getting harder and harder. Any second she really would cry, and there would be nothing she could do to stop it.

InuYasha looked at her face and saw her pain there. He hated making her cry. That had always been one of his greatest weaknesses. He would be strong. He'd be strong now for her, just like he always had been, because he cared for her deeply.

He gave a resigned sigh and moved his hands away. He let her lift the necklace. He felt as though a great load of rocks was lifted away from his shoulders when it passed his ears and pulled over his head, but felt that same weight settle slowly over his heart instead.

Their bond was broken. The necklace hung useless in Kagome's fingers, more a worthless bead trinket than a powerful rosary. He missed her already.

Kagome stared at it in her hands for a moment, not saying anything. She needed a moment to get her feelings under control. This was so hard.

Finally, she raised her head and gave InuYasha a hesitant but heart filled smile.

"How does it feel?" she asked, smiling as InuYasha rubbed his neck and chest, free from the threat of being sat for the first time in four years.

"I don't know," he said, hesitantly. "I feel lighter, but a lot heavier at the same time," he said, looking back at her.

Kagome nodded sagely. That sounded about right.

"Go on, try it," InuYasha ordered her, watching her expression closely.

"Try what?" Kagome asked, momentarily confused.

"Sit me," InuYasha told her, standing expectantly. Kagome gaped at him for a stunned moment before coming to her senses.

"No!" Kagome shouted, hands flying to her hips. "You just want to gloat!"

"Keh, maybe, but you owe me for all that torture!" InuYasha said, smirking a little.

"Well, no way!" Kagome said adamantly, crossing her arms over her chest and turning away. "I won't give you the satisfaction."

"What?" InuYasha roared, momentarily forgetting his lingering sadness. All he wanted to do was test out his new found freedoms, but she wasn't going to cooperate! Why was she being so stubborn?

"Damn it, wench, just say 'sit'!" he yelled again, coming around to shout in her face properly.

Kagome merely turned away and put her nose in the air, sniffing disdainfully, unknowingly mimicking her mate perfectly.

"Kagome!" InuYasha said, getting exasperated. "Minutes ago you couldn't wait to sit me! You've been doing it all these years, and now when I want you to you forget the word?" His eyes lit up as he thought of his fool-proof provocation.

"Bitch!" he yelled, sitting back smugly to watch her reaction.

Kagome's ears reddened from her efforts at restraining her temper, but to his increasing dissatisfaction she kept her cool. She would not 'sit' him.

"Arrrgh!" he yelled, gnashing his teeth and running up to kick a poor defenseless tree. "Some things never change!"

Kagome, hearing these words and watching her hanyou friend throw a tantrum, had to smile. It was suddenly all she'd wanted to hear.

"You're right, InuYasha," she said, laying her hand on his arm and smiling up into his bewildered face, watching as her presence calmed and soothed him as it always had, even when she was the one upsetting him. "Some things never change."

InuYasha seemed to feel everything she couldn't put into words, and a sense of relief flowed through him. It would be alright. It was going to be different, and sometimes it would be hard and some things would never make sense, but it would be alright.

"Come on," Kagome said, tweaking his ear as he shot her a half hearted growl, "I'll make you some Ramen."

"All right!" InuYasha yelled, pulling her after him as he sped off towards the camp.

Some things never change.

* * *

Item 2: Alone Time

"Don't touch it," he growled, narrowing his eyes at her menacingly.

Her hand never faltered on its course, going unerringly to the one spot he did not want it to go. He huffed a great huff as he prepared to growl more menacingly at her, looking to meet her eyes.

He was pulled up short, though, once his amber eyes met her innocent, wide, childishlyguileless blue gaze. He suddenly got all the wind knocked out of him. She was just so sweet, so pure, so nice! He felt himself unable to sustain the proper levels of annoyance and gave up on making her pull away and stop pestering him. The young miko undoubtedly had no idea of how annoying she was. He'd spare her feelings, this time around. The weak little thing most likely wouldn't be able to withstand his scathing wit.

Kagome smirked to herself as Sesshoumaru huffed once more and turned away, trying weakly to pull his tail from her grasp. She'd figured out a long time ago that he wasn't evenninety-five percentas mean and angry as he seemed. However, much to his own loss, he'd yet to discover that she wasn'tninety-nine percentas sweet and innocent as she pretended.

His fault for underestimating her. She gave a little retaliatory tug on his adorable tail, hiding her smirk behind even wider eyes when he turned to glare at her once more.

Finally, he seemed to resign himself fully to his fate. He looked to her once more, seeming to drink in her expression and memorize her face. He searched her features up and down thoroughly as if trying to discover why on earth he put up with her.

Kagome was having a really hard time keeping a straight face when confronted with his adorable annoyed expression. Finally, losing a semblance of control, she innocently tugged on the tail again, laughing when his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

He'd caught her out. He could see the mirth and teasing gleam dancing in her wide eyes, even as she batted her lashes and put on her best, 'who, me?' expression. The little miko was taunting him!

With a lunge and a growl, Sesshoumaru swooped in and gathered her up in a one armed embrace, pulling her under him so he could loom over her threateningly.

"So, you think you can manhandle this Sesshoumaru whenever you like without consequence?" he asked, bringing his face down to hers until they were nose-to-nose.

"Why Sesshoumaru, whatever do you mean?" she asked, unable to suppress either the laughter that fought to escape or the tingle of pleasure she got from their position.

"You know full well, you vixen," he growled, delighting in the small tremors he could feel coursing through his mate. He brought is mouth down to her ear, knowing it was one of her more sensitive spots.

"I just thought you looked like you could use a little attention," Kagome said, trying valiantly to maintain her studied air of innocence. It wasn't working very well. At the moment, her thoughts about her mate were anything but innocent.

"I forgot what a mischief maker you can be," Sesshoumaru purred into her ear, tracing the shell with his tongue.

"How silly of you," Kagome replied breathlessly. "You'll have to be more careful in the future," she said, grasping him more tightly to her.

"I will be," he promised, moving to kiss her deeply. "I most certainly will be."

* * *

Item 3: Kikyou

He sensed her coming a mile away. He'd wondered if this confrontation would ever actually happen. For a while he'd idly dared to hope it wouldn't. Not that he was afraid of the miko; he'd killed her once before. He could kill her again if it came down to it.

Only this time, there would be no way to conceal his actions from InuYasha and Kagome. No, if the miko decided to threaten him or his mate again, things could definitely get messy and he'd be left with a lot of dodging, fighting, and explaining to do. It would most likely be more effort than it was worth.

He had no idea of what to expect from the miko when she reached him. Would she launch into an open attack? Would she try to coerce him into something by holding the knowledge of his past actions over his head? Would she even remember all that had transpired while she was in her undead state? Kikyou was an unknown element in his life's equation.

He snorted derisively to himself for a moment. All the mikos he'd known personally had ended up that way. Why should she be any different?

But there was something about Kikyou that would always unsettle him. He knew nothing about her. All he could see was a calm, powerful, and intense soul who'd been capable of descending to the depths she'd reached. That sort of nature was one he did not enjoy being around. His Kagome was so different. He admired the lightness and the inherent innocence of his mate. This miko was born weary and had carried that heaviness around with her, throughout life and death.

Not that he knew much of her personally, of course. When he'd made her limited acquaintance she'd already been half insane, blinded by hatred and bitterness. She was probably much different and more pleasant as a whole, living being. The last time he'd seen her, she'd been mostly dead as it was. When he killed her officially, he'd really just given her a nudge in the right direction.

Now, she was a fully regenerated miko in possession of all her faculties. Would she be angry about what he'd done to protect Kagome? Would she attempt to seek revenge, or to get even in some way? He didn't know what to expect, and that threw him off.

The miko entered the very clearing where he'd slain her a couple of months ago. She showed no sign of fear or apprehension but she did show recognition. She knew where they were and what had transpired between them the last time they met on this ground. That answered one question. He wondered why she'd not said something to anyone before now.

In the months following the battle Sesshoumaru had seen the resurrected miko, but only from a distance, and only in the company of InuYasha. He knew she hadn't said anything to InuYasha. The camp had been far too quiet and the temporary truce too upheld for that to have been a possibility. The two of them had certainly never spoken. They'd yet to pause in their busy schedules and ask each other all important questions like, 'So, how are you? You know, after I killed you methodically out in the forest without telling anyone else what fate you'd met?' or 'So, you're mated to my reincarnation, the woman I was planning to kill in order to reclaim my soul. How's that working out for you?'

No, this would be the first time they'd chat one on one with something other than impending murder on their minds.

One would hope, anyway.

"Sesshoumaru," Kikyou began, bowing formally, "I have been waiting to speak to you."

He said nothing, merely nodded in reply. It was always best to keep your cards close, not giving away anything too early in the game.

When it was apparent he did not plan to take her conversational lead and run with it, Kikyou continued, drawing up straight and standing tall as she spoke to him. Her expression never wavered once.

"It would be noble of me to apologize for my actions while I was in my clay state. It would be commendable of me to explain my motivations and thoughts, and to tell you why I did what I did, seeking your understanding and forgiveness." All this was said with an air of long mulled thoughts seeing the daylight for the first time. "I should apologize for seeking the soul of someone you loved. And," she said, regarding the TaiYoukai closely, with no trace of fear on her noble face, "I should thank you for the steps you took to prevent me from succeeding in my wicked desires."

Here she stopped and regarded him some more, searching for facial clues to gauge his receptivity. She, however, was no Kagome, and so was not tuned into his tell tale facial ticks and giveaways. He knew she did not know how he felt about her pronouncement.

"I should explain that I know why you would slaughter me as I was without telling the man I loved or anyone else about my death. I should be grateful for the inherent rightness of your actions, and should pledge myself to repaying a great debt you have placed upon me." Here again she paused, but this time appeared to be examining herself introspectively, ignoring the demon lord for a moment as she collected her thoughts.

Still Sesshoumaru said nothing. There was nothing for him to say.

"But I will do none of those things," she finally said, decisively. The demon could feel his eyebrows reach his hairline, the only visible betrayal of his surprise and interest.

"I alone know what I thought and felt at that time," Kikyou said with conviction. "I alone know what real hell is. I alone know the depths of the darkness of souls, and I alone will bear that weight. There is nothing I can or will say to you in my defense, because my crimes are not for this world to judge. There's not a being alive with enough experience to hold the scales."

All this was said with such power and surety that Sesshoumaru could not help but agree. Not that he'd bother to tell her that, of course.

She met his eyes directly when she was finished with her speeches. Whatever she did or did not see in his face or countenance seemed to be what she was looking for, in spite of his efforts to remain blank and impassive, because she made one final statement.

"The past is past, and it always will be. I will not carry it around with me, mourning things that are dead and over while I am alive and ever changing. The future has already happened and is already somebody's past, but I have a chance to see it new for the first time."

The demon lord had to admire the steely look of resolve in her eyes as she again met his direct, unflinching gaze. Her face lacked the passionate vibrancy of Kagome's expression, but it had its own strength.

He simply nodded to her, showing his respect for her thoughts concerning the history that lay between them, and the history that lay strewn about in pieces all around them all. Pieces that none of them would pick up to mull over any time soon.

Without another word, Sesshoumaru's brother's miko nodded back once and turned back the way she'd come.

They would have no more problems between them.

* * *

Item 4: Shippou

The young kitsune sat on a nearby boulder, almost at eye level with the reclining TaiYoukai who was currently lounging not two feet away. A certain young miko was sharing space with him, her back resting against his chest as she lazily read a paperback book from her time. The inu youkai was content to stare off into space, thinking his own private thoughts, as his independently motivated hand occasionally found its way into her hair, stroking the soft strands absently.

It was a very cozy scene, one that made Shippou both very, very happy, and also very sad and nostalgic.

Kagome was like a mother to him. He loved her deeply and was happy to see her finally with someone who cared for her and made her feel loved and safe. And he was a demon, even if young and surrounded by humans, so he respected Sesshoumaru's obvious strength and protective capabilities. He wasn't worried at all that Sesshoumaru wouldn't be able to keep his mother friend safe from all physical harm. No, there was no one better for the job of miko protector.

He was just worried that Sesshoumaru wouldn't like him, and wouldn't let him stay with Kagome. Shippou needed her, and needed to know he'd be welcomed wherever they went. Somehow, he didn't think Sesshoumaru would be very welcoming.

Sesshoumaru, as if feeling the weight of the young kitsune's regard on his face, cracked open one golden eye to look the kit over.

Shippou let out a small 'Eep!' of distress at being caught staring and dived behind the rock.

He didn't get far, however, before he was hauled up by the tail, brought face-to-face with the last demon he'd ever wanted to get up close and personal with while hanging upside down.

Sesshoumaru let out an inquisitive growl, low and unthreatening, but definitely meaning business. What did the runt want?

Shippou began to stutter out an explanation, all the while desperately looking to Kagome for assistance. She'd always been able to put InuYasha in his place when things got too rough, but this was no InuYasha. Sesshoumaru was a different sort of bully, and Shippou really didn't want to come off as a good target.

He was saved, however, when Sesshoumaru let out an annoyed 'Umph' before turning his glare on Kagome. She'd sat up from her reclined position to shoot him a pointed stare, letting him know in no uncertain terms that he'd better play nice.

Sesshoumaru simply sniffed and looked away from her, putting Shippou back on the ground as if that had been his intention the entire time.

Kagome just hid a small smile and got a look on her face that Shippou instinctively knew meant trouble. It was the excited look Kagome wore when she was about to say, 'Hey, I have an idea!'

"Hey, I have an idea!" Kagome said, sure enough, as Shippou closed his eyes and said a small prayer. Even Sesshoumaru, still new to her foibles, knew enough to regard her warily when she looked and sounded like that.

Kagome, however, chose to blissfully ignore all of their expressions. They were nothing she hadn't seen countless of times before.

"Since Shippou will be staying with us for a long time, you two should get to know each other better!" The enthusiasm in her voice was obvious, but neither of the two males found it infectious.

They just looked at each other out of the corner of their eyes, sizing each other up like opponents. They knew that once Kagome got an idea into her head it was best to just hang on and grit your teeth as you got through it, but they didn't know how the other would react to her demands.

Shippou decided that the efforts to break the ice and establish friendly connections would fall on his shoulders. Taking the youkai by the ears, metaphorically, he made his first foray into enemy territory.

"Do you want to play?" he asked Sesshoumaru, hesitantly.

"This Sesshoumaru does not play," Sesshoumaru replied, saying the word 'play' the same way you would say 'maggots'.

"Do you want to catch bugs?" Shippou tried again, trying to think of all the things he was good at that would be fun with another person. The disgusted look on the demon lord's face, however, told him he was striking out.

"We could go swimming," Shippou thought out loud. A giggle from Kagome and an answering glare from Sesshoumaru told him that option was out, too. Shippou was running out of ideas.

"What do you do for fun?" he asked Sesshoumaru in exasperation. There had to be something they could do together, at least to get Kagome off their backs. The miko in question was currently narrowing her eyes at Sesshoumaru, ready to elbow him again if he didn't start participating.

"I kill things," Sesshoumaru said with all confidence.

"Uhh…" Shippou said, wondering if this was a team sport.

"Good, then that's settled," Kagome said, standing up and dusting herself off. "You'll go off into the woods, be very manly, and kill all sorts of innocent woodland creatures in the spirit of male bonding," she decided, reaching out a hand to help haul Sesshoumaru up to his feet.

The TaiYoukai was more than willing to do as she said. Sure it would be a bit of a hindrance having the inexperienced young kitsune around while on the prowl, but he'd put up with it for Kagome's sake. The things he did for her…

Besides, the young kit had relied on his weak, pathetic bastard of a half breed brother for a male role model. Someone needed to straighten the kid out and give him some useful pointers. No one else would be able to make a man out of him.

Shippou was beginning to feel excited. It looked like Sesshoumaru was really going to take him into the forest and show him how to hunt! This was every little demon's dream! He'd never had the chance to watch such a cool and powerful demon at work. His inner demon was jumping up and down in excitement. It looked forward to having such a mentor. This wasn't an opportunity to pass up.

With a cry of excitement, Shippou launched himself thoughtlessly onto Sesshoumaru's neck, chattering happily all the while. He was so busy being excited that he failed to notice the way Sesshoumaru's shoulders tensed before relaxing to allow the kit to remain on his perch. Shippou wasn't even aware of his first personal victory of the day; being permitted to manhandle the great TaiYoukai of the West without losing any limbs.

Kagome waved them farewell with a happy little smile as the stoic TaiYoukai bore the excitable little kit away on his shoulder. Her men were off to spend some quality time together, just the two of them. It made her heart happy. She would sacrifice a whole forest's worth of fuzzy mammals if it made her little family any closer and more secure.

Sesshoumaru, though he'd never admit it, was reveling in the young kit's admiration and indirect, heartfelt praise.

"Will you show me that cool thing you do with your claws?" he'd asked, not even pausing for an answer before continuing with other attack requests. "Or that one thing you did when you knocked InuYasha flat on his face that one time? He never saw that one coming it was so fast!" Shippou said, being unintentionally disloyal to his hanyou friend.

Sesshoumaru, however, didn't mind the slip at all. An afternoon spent off in nature, killing things for fun while hearing how cool he was?

That sounded just fine to him. Maybe having the runt around would be alright after all.

* * *

Item 5: Communication

Sesshoumaru was a demon, he was not a person. He certainly wasn't a people person. He was an extremely strong, intelligent, crafty, and controlled demon. He said what he needed to say, when he needed to say it. The words 'chit' and 'chat' never existed together in his mind. He would be loathe to admit that the word 'chat' existed at all.

He had many, many years of experience under his belt and a lot of insight into the inner workings of the world. He knew what needed to be done, when. His word was law, literally. He was the lord of the western lands, after all.

He was blessed with intuition and brilliant foresight and an almost supernatural ability to predict what the future would hold.

Well, up until the events witnessed one fated moonlit night by an old, forgotten well, of course. That had come as a surprise.

But aside from all that, he was always right.

Unfortunately, no handy little mirror ever told him he would be mated to a young woman who was also always right, only in the most annoying and contradictory ways. He still wasn't quite sure how that worked.

"Sesshoumaru, I promised I would go to Souta's birthday party," she said, moving past him to head back to the old well. They were far away in another area of the forest, doing a cursory check on his land's borders.

But he was not in the mood to argue. It was completely unnecessary and undignified. He didn't want to let her go. He wanted her with him. He doubted they'd ever talked about any kind of party to begin with. He would not give her words an answer, because they didn't need one.

'Humph,' he seemed to say, giving a slight sniff and not meeting her gaze

"That's tonight," she pointed out, moving away from him. "I told you about this a week ago."

'Indifferent stare,' he projected, maintaining a studiously bored countenance.

"I have to go now so I can help mom set everything up!" she said, beginning to get annoyed. "We can't go off killing things on the border of your lands today, I have to get going."

A Narrowing of eyes and piercing glance were her only reply.

"You promised you would take me and Rin over to the well," she said, moving to poke him in the chest. "You said you'd fly us there so we'd make it before noon!"

Turned nose, avoided glance, studied air of nonchalance.

"What is your problem?" she asked, throwing her hands up in frustration. "You know full well we already had plans for the next couple of days. You just forgot and now you're trying to make me feel like it's my fault, or like I'm keeping you from doing your duty!"

Raised eyebrow, pointed glare.

"Oh, come on! We're always killing demons! We killed demons last weekend; we'll kill demons again next weekend. The demons know the routine by now already! They'll probably start slaughtering themselves without us, just out of habit!"

Snort of derision and crossing of arms. Even if she did have a very small point.

"Arrgh!" she shouted, finally giving full vent to her frustration. "I hate it when you won't even argue, just standing there like a ticked off brick wall! I refuse to argue with a statue!"

Small smirk of victory.

"Oh, fine then," she said in a warning tone. "If you can't tell me what you want and discuss things like a grown up, I'm going to ignore you and do what I want anyway."

Sly look to see what was going to happen. He would not give in so easily.

Yes, Sesshoumaru did not negotiate. He did not discuss. He did not need to use word after word after word. His actions did all the talking for him, and the sooner his mate realized it, the better. Words were a waste of perfectly good air, especially when you could get what you wanted from life without them. She would come around, and would fall in line behind him. Sesshoumaru did not change to suit the world, the world changed to suit him.

To his chagrin, however, he saw Kagome turn on her heel and flounce away without a backwards glance, taking a smiling Rin with her until they reached the side of Ah Un.

At this Sesshoumaru allowed himself a larger smirk. The dragon allowed none but him to issue orders. It certainly wouldn't allow a mere slip of a human girl to clamber up on its back and tell it where to go, acting like the boss of the giant creature. No, that dragon had only one boss, and that boss was Sesshoumaru.

To his slight horror, he saw Ah Un greet the miko warmly by nuzzling her stomach, silently asking for treats the manner of horses and other beasts of burden the world over. The once fearsome beast was acting completely tame, and was allowing itself to be entirely at Kagome's disposal.

How had this happened? How had his beast come to tolerate the presence of such a weak being?

Sesshoumaru saw Rin climb expertly up to sit in front of the mounted Kagome. The older girl's arms coming around to hold her in place as Sesshoumaru realized his error. The beast was long used to catering to humans.

Much like Sesshoumaru had become, apparently.

Sighing internally, Sesshoumaru watched as Kagome encouraged Ah Un to take off to the skies, beginning the first leg of their journey to the well. She never once looked at him as she left, keeping her eyes averted and her nose in the air. She was deliberately shunning him!

He hated to admit it, but her avoidance agitated his inner youkai. He was, after all, part canine, and being isolated and removed from the good graces of your pack was internally traumatic. His demon's mate had cast him aside, punishing him by refusing to share any portion of herself with him.

He could not have that. With a low growl of hurt and annoyance, Sesshoumaru followed, keeping pace with the girls just out of sight.

Kagome sighed once they were on their way. She had originally felt so sure of herself, determined to hold her own and get her way. And she still thought she was right; they had promised to go to Souta's party and she really needed to be there. And Sesshoumaru was too contained. He really, really needed to vocalize his thoughts and emotions more.

Not that she wanted to be needy or anything, but the man just left her so… busy. She was always watching him, gauging his reactions. She had catalogued eighty-two separate facial expressions so far, and they hadn't been mated that long. Eighty-two different interchangeable faces that took the place of all words. She spent all her time trying to understand him, and he did nothing to make her job easier.

It was nice that he wasn't a big talker in some respects because Sesshoumaru was a good listener. Or at least, he would pretend to be giving her half an ear if she started prattling on during their journeys around their lands. He would sometimes answer her more direct questions if he thought they warranted a response, and would even occasionally venture a question of his own.

But he'd never, ever said one word that would tell her how he was feeling about any subject. And she needed that communication sometimes, because she felt so vulnerable. It was hard always trying to guess. What if she guessed wrong?

She'd left one life for another the day she became Sesshoumaru's mate. She closed several doors that would never reopen, and took a big leap of faith. She trusted her instincts, and her heart, and knew that this would be very, very right. She knew that true love lay ahead of her.

But she had never heard any words to that effect coming from Sesshoumaru himself. Sure, he seemed happy that she was by his side. She knew he felt restless and uncomfortable when she wasn't around, and she knew he only really relaxed in her presence. She knew he was very, deeply, fond of her.

But did he love her? She had no idea.

To tell the truth, she'd only discovered that she really, truly loved him two days ago.

They had been laying together at the base of a tree, preparing to go to sleep for the night, with Shippou tucked up to one side of Kagome. Normally the little kit slept in his own sleeping bag, but the night had been an especially cold one.

Sesshoumaru had turned over to curl around her back, resting his face in the crook of her neck as he peered over her shoulder. The little kit's tail had accidentally fwapped him in the face, causing him to pull back and narrow his eyes. Without any thought, without any intent, his hand came up and flicked Shippou on the behind, startling the young kit into an upright position.

When Shippou had come awake abruptly, looking around him with suspicion trying to discover the culprit, Sesshoumaru had simply kept his hand still where it was and gazed away into the distance, affecting the deepest innocence and ignorance.

When Shippou had stalked off to confront an absent InuYasha, somehow convinced the hanyou had snuck by them all, even Sesshoumaru, to torture him while he slept, Kagome had collapsed against Sesshoumaru's chest, weak from laughing harder than she had in a long while.

She looked up into the youkai's face, happy to see him watching her laughter with a small, content smirk on his face. Her mirth had died down a little, trailing off to a small sigh as she traced his face with her gentle fingers.

'I love this man,' she'd thought clearly, feeling soft, warm, and deeply happy. She had known, for the first time, exactly what she'd been waiting for all these years.

But they'd never said anything out loud, and while she knew how she felt, she had no idea what he was thinking. It scared her to know she could feel like this about someone who might only be fond of her. That would be unbearable.

She hugged Rin more tightly, resting her cheek on the small girl's head, and sighed a deep sigh she meant completely.

"What's wrong Kagome?" Rin asked, looking up to see the miko's troubled expression.

"Oh, nothing," Kagome lied, wondering if she could really ask the things she desperately wanted to ask the young girl. Did Sesshoumaru love anyone? Could he love her? Would she ever feel completely reassured? How could she phrase it so Rin wouldn't get upset? No one needed to be burdened with her own groundless insecurities.

"Well, if something's wrong just tell Sesshoumaru-sama. He always makes everything better," Rin said confidently, completely sure of her guardian's ability to fix all the broken things in her life.

"Oh he does, does he?" Kagome asked ruefully, amused with the girl's simple confidence.

"Yep," Rin said offhandedly as she watched the scenery flash by them. "Sesshoumaru-sama fixed me when my body got hurt, and he let me come with him when I was all by myself, and he saved me when bad guys took me away, and he got me you to keep," she said, as if listing all these things off on her fingers.

Kagome stifled a laugh at the thought of herself as a birthday present to Rin and managed to nod seriously.

"You do have a point," she agreed, returning Rin's innocent smile.

It really did make her feel better, even if it hadn't been exactly what she'd thought she'd needed to hear. Sesshoumaru protected and watched over Rin and had for years. He would do anything for her. It was obvious, even to demons like Naraku with no true knowledge of the softer emotions, that he truly loved the little girl.

But she'd bet he'd never said the words in his entire life. And Rin never expected him to. Some things went beyond little phrases on Valentine's cards.

So it was that Kagome wasn't really surprised to see her mate waiting for them at the well, having arrived moments before they did, even with their head start. She would have been more surprised if he hadn't been there. She was leaving him for a couple of days, after all, and he wasn't one to let that slide without a proper good bye. Plus, she knew he hated to be ignored.

Sesshoumaru stalked up to his little runaway miko, pulling her straight into his arms without any further ado. He thought he was just forcing her to acknowledge his presence and end his inner demon's torment. He thought she'd continue on being annoyed with him until she got her way, forcing him to blabber on about nothing in particular just to satisfy her need for conversation.

He didn't expect, however, the way she came so willingly into his arms. Or the way she threw her own so exuberantly around his neck, hugging him tightly to her. Or the way she pulled his head down for a searing, heartfelt kiss. Or the way she seemed to be thanking him and questioning him, all at the same time.

Finally, she moved to pull away, but the demon lord was not ready to let her go. This time it was him holding on to her, pulling her close into his body. He was painfully aware that she would not be by his side for much longer than he would like, and both sides of him weren't in any rush for that time to begin.

Finally, with a resigned sigh, he allowed the girl to step slightly away from him. However, before she could get too far, he lowered his head to rest right by her ear.

"Come back to me," he breathed, direct and to the point. That was all he said, but that was all he felt the need to say.

And when he pulled back to look into her face, he was pleased to see the happy look of comprehension he'd waited so long to see grace her features. She finally knew what he didn't ever think to say.

Some things didn't need to be said to be understood.

* * *

A/N: Okay, and now I really am done. I just can't leave things well enough alone.


End file.
